Cheteshwar Pujara’s wife revealed a startling incident in which the cricket player heard a phone call announcing his dismissal from the Indian team.
Cheteshwar Pujara, one of the most reliable Test cricket players India has ever produced, is a man of few words but excellent integrity. During the course of his international cricket career, Pujara helped India win a number of matches and secured numerous draws. However, in all three versions, the batter is no longer a member of the Indian squad. Selectors are considering Pujara’s return because of his many good knocks. He last played for India in 2023. However, his luck hasn’t improved.
In her book ‘The Diary of a Cricketer’s Wife,’ Puja, Pujara’s wife, has revealed some startling facts regarding the batter’s cricket career. She even described in the book how, during the 2018–19 Australia tour, Pujara had overheard a discussion about being cut from the team.
Pujara was in poor form at the time of the occurrence, having only scored 28 runs overall in the Perth Test. There were reportedly calls to bench Pujara after India lost the game, and he was also attempting to manage a minor hamstring strain. When Pujara’s father was hospitalized to a hospital back home, the incident happened.Cheteshwar used his three-day vacation to the fullest and hardly left his room. He alternated between receiving treatment for his strained hamstring and resting his injured limb. Once, when he did, he heard someone having a heated phone conversation about how he didn’t want my husband to play in the upcoming match because he wasn’t fit. It was a disagreeable event. However, Cheteshwar showed no indication that he had unintentionally learned of the aforementioned conversation. He also kept Papa’s illness a secret from everyone,” Puja writes in her book.After the tour was complete, I only discovered the occurrence by chance on Cheteshwar’s birthday. Around half past two in the afternoon, the room was completely dark with no lights on. While Aditi was sleeping and Cheteshwar and I were lounging on our bed, I read birthday greetings on our social media profiles. There was one particularly heartfelt and eloquent Instagram message. As I read it aloud to Cheteshwar, I said, “What a beautiful message—such a sweet gesture!” The hush was absolute. He said nothing at all. Perplexed, I looked up from my phone to see a really odd look on Cheteshwar’s face—one that was both pathetic and mysterious.It was his classic, naive, and trusting look, which I had seen previously and was thus quite familiar with,” she disclosed. “I had no trouble translating his mind.”
A straightforward man of modest temperament, Pujara was heavily influenced before he finally made the decision to reveal all to his wife.”What is wrong?” I inquired. “Nothing,” he answered in his most reserved manner. However, I didn’t believe it. I was well aware that Cheteshwar was generally hiding something when he fell fully silent. It happened all the time. I never heard about on-field politics and gossip from him; instead, I usually heard it from the spouses of other players. Cheteshwar had only used three consistent lines to describe his numerous travels during our marriage: “I went back to the room after we had a team meeting and practice.” Every day, every year, I had been subjected to the same routine lines. He was prepared to discuss anything but his work life.Sometimes I would question whether he was even aware of what was going on in the world.
“But in this circumstance, I was not about to let him clam up on me. I eventually wore him down despite his best efforts to ward me off. Cheteshwar laconically remarked, “This guy you’re praising wanted me to be dropped from the team because of fitness issues.” I stared at him in amazement. Why didn’t you inform me sooner? Why did you endure it by yourself? He shrugged and said, “Such things happen, and not everything deserves a reaction.” What important is that I performed and played well.You don’t have to think about the situation too much. However, you should learn not to believe everything you read or see on social media,” she stated.
