Cheteshwar Pujara picks the toughest bowler he has faced ahead of series against Australia

India’s senior Test specialist batter Cheteshwar Pujara is enjoying an excellent run of form with the bat. He won the ‘player of the series award in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. He scored 222 runs in four innings with an average of 74 including a century and a crucial 90-run knock.

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The 34-year-old continued his purple patch with the bat in the ongoing Ranji Trophy while playing for Saurashtra. Speaking of his batting stats in the calendar year of 2022, Pujara scored 409 runs in 5 Test matches with an average of 45.44 with a century and three half-centuries to his name.

Now, the Saurashtra batter will be in action in the whites for the national team of India in the upcoming full-fledged four-match Test series against Australia.

Meanwhile, just ahead of the big series against Australia, India's number three has picked the toughest he ever faced in his career.

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In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Pujara was asked about one of the former pacers he would want to face to which he replied with the name of former legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath.

“I would go with Pat Cummins. In Australia,” replied Pujara on the question of the toughest bowler he faced in his Test career so far.

Talking about the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India and Australia will lock horns in the first of the four-match Test series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, the 9^th of February next month.

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Notably, it would be the last Test series of four matches between India and Australia. It has been decided that both teams will take on each other in a five-match Test series whenever the Border-Gavaskar Trophy would be scheduled later.

Here’s a look at the squad of India for the first two Tests against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat