Cheteshwar Pujara overheard intense phone call to have him dropped in Australia: 'He did not want me in India XI'

Hindustan Times

30-04-2025

Cheteshwar Pujara was no stranger to being a casualty in the Indian XI despite being one of its finest Test batters in the last decade and a half. Sometimes for strike rate in the West Indies, sometimes after a few low scores in England, Pujara has always bore the brunt. But Pujara really got shaken when the chatter about dropping him during the 2018-19 Australia tour came to the fore. A man of few words, Pujara, when persuaded by his wife, Puja, could not hold back. The veteran batter, narrated how he overheard talks of dropping him from the Melbourne Test.
Puja Pujara revealed the details in her book, 'The Diary of a Cricketer's Wife'. Puja wrote that her husband, who had scored a century and a half-century in the first Test in Adelaide to help India take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series, was struggling with a hamstring injury before the second Test in Perth. That was also the time when Pujara's father, Arvind, suddenly fell and required hospitalisation as soon as possible.
Without revealing details of his father's medical condition, Puja stood by her husband, who did not have the best of times in Perth, managing just 28 runs in both innings. India lost the Test by 146 runs.
It was between the second and the third Test that Pujara had a hard time. He was trying his best not to let the hamstring hamper his batting while his wife, Puja, was taking care of his father, who required an emergency heart procedure. Amid all this, Pujara overheard a telephonic conversation, where the main topic of discussion was his position in the XI for the Melbourne Test.
"Cheteshwar made the most of his three-day break and did not step out of his room much. He alternated between resting his afflicted limb and getting his strained hamstring treated. On the lone occasion when he did, he overheard someone engaged in an intense conversation on the telephone, stating that he did not want my husband to play in the coming match because he was unfit. It was an unpleasant incident. But Cheteshwar gave no sign that he had accidentally become privy to the said exchange. Neither did he tell anyone about Papa's medical condition," Puja wrote in her book.
She further revealed that Pujara told her about the incident much later when they were discussing social media wishes on his birthday.
"I only learnt of the incident accidentally on Cheteshwar's birthday after the tour was over. It was around half-past-two in the afternoon, the lights were off and the room was quite dark. Aditi was napping and Cheteshwar and I were reclining on our bed as I scrolled through our social media pages reading out birthday greetings. One message posted on Instagram was particularly effusive and touching. I read it out aloud to Cheteshwar, remarking, 'Such a sweet gesture—what a lovely message!' There was complete silence. He did not say a word. Puzzled, I looked up from my phone and caught a most peculiar expression on Cheteshwar's face—one that was simultaneously secretive and pitying. I had no trouble translating his mind — it was his vintage you're-so-naïve-and-trusting look I had seen it before and was therefore quite familiar with it.
'What's wrong,' I asked. 'Nothing,' he said, at his taciturn best. But I was not buying it. I knew quite well that when Cheteshwar went completely quiet, it usually meant he was concealing something. It was a frequent occurrence. I usually learnt of on-field gossip and politics from other players' wives, never from him. Throughout my marriage, Cheteshwar's description of his various trips had been limited to three unvarying sentences: 'We had practice, a team meeting and then I returned to the room.' Day in and day out, year after year, I had been treated to the same standard lines. He was ready to talk about everything but his professional life. There were times when I would wonder if he even knew what was happening in the world around him.
"But in this instance, I was not about to let him clam up on me. He tried to fend me off, but I finally wore him down. 'This guy you're praising,' commented Cheteshwar laconically, 'wanted me to be dropped from the team because of fitness issues.' I gaped at him. 'Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you go through it alone?' 'Such things happen,' he shrugged, 'and not everything deserves a reaction. I played and played well and that's what matters. You don't need to dwell too much on the incident. But it's important that you learn not to trust everything that takes place on social media'," she wrote.
Pujara ended up as the Player of the Series, which India won to make the first away Test series victory on Australian soil.