“Wearing the Indian jersey, singing the anthem, and trying my best each time I stepped on the field - it’s impossible to put into words what it truly meant. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and with immense gratitude, I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket. Thank you for all the love and support!”

Pujara announced his retirement on August 24^th through a post on X.

Pujara has played 103 tests and 5 ODIs for India after making his debut in 2010. He scored 7195 runs at an average of 43.60 with 19 hundreds and 35 fifties. For over a decade, he was India’s most reliable no. 3 in test cricket, essaying an important role in some of the team’s most magnificent wins at home and overseas. His last Test appearance came against Australia in the World Test Championship Final at the Oval in June 2023.

After his debut in 2010, he celebrated his first century against New Zealand in 2012. He went on to celebrate his first double-century in 2017 against Australia in Ranchi. He was lauded for his first International Test century in England in 2018, where he scored 132, which was eventually in a losing cause. Another Test where he displayed his gumption to bat long was in Ranchi against Australia, where he sweated it out for 672 minutes and 525 deliveries for a double hundred. Pujara is one of the only 3 Indians to bat on all five days of a Test, the other two being ML Jaisimha and Ravi Shastri.

Pujara was also central to India’s back-to-back series wins in Australia. In 2018-19, he scored three centuries in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney as India secured a historic first Test series win. He also copped several blows to his body en route to a defiant 211-ball 56 in Brisbane in 2021, where India fashioned one of their most famous away Test victories. Pujara copped many blows in the 2020-21 series win against Australia. Yet, he battled through despite the pain and soreness to carry the team onwards to victory in the series.

Pujara made his 100^th Test appearance for the country against Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in 2023, where he received a guard of honour from his team.

After the WTC Final in 2023, as India was looking for young blood to fill the top-order position, Pujara continued to play red-ball cricket for Saurashtra and also turned out for Sussex in the County Championship.

Pujara was a player with immense patience and grit. Almost every time he donned the whites to represent the country, his innings was one of patience with a purpose to either save the match for his side or make his side emerge victorious against the opponents.

Like every player does, Pujara too did have bad days during his tenure in the game and not every innings of his was a half-century, century, double-century or triple century. But a lot of his efforts to stand strong against any bowling attack anywhere in the world, coping with pressure and pain, have helped the team in ways that can’t just be expressed in words.

Rahul Dravid, an ex-player and former head coach of the Indian Cricket Team, was termed as “The Wall” when he played for the country. In modern-day cricket, Pujara is often seen as the equivalent of Rahul Dravid in terms of his temperament, technique and grit. While many have called him “The New Wall”, he can also be called “The Wall 2.0”. Pujara’s resilience, his calm and focused nature at the crease and his ability to absorb pressure have always helped the team and the batting lineup.

Whenever Pujara played, be it in India or on foreign soil, it led to the opponents having an added task of planning how to get him out at the earliest. He was one player whose entrance at the crease meant he would try and stay rock solid at the crease as long as he could. India were definitely at their best when Pujara was in the middle.

The retirement of 4 modern-day greats, Ravichandran Ashwin (18^th December 2024), Rohit Sharma (7^th May 2025), Virat Kohli (12^th May 2025) and Cheteshwar Pujara (24^th August 2025) within such a short span of time surely marks the end of an era in Indian Test cricket. Though India will see the rise of young blood under a young captain in the form of Shubman Gill, it will definitely miss seeing the four greats taking the field and entertaining the country with their admirable and inspiring performances.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s retirement marks the end of an era in Indian cricket—an era defined by patience, discipline, and quiet resilience. In a world where cricket has increasingly tilted towards power-hitting and instant results, Pujara stood as a reminder of the traditional values that Test cricket was built upon: grit, determination, and the ability to outlast the opposition. His presence at the crease was never about glamour but about impact; not about fleeting fireworks, but about building foundations that carried India to some of its greatest triumphs.

While the scoreboard may sometimes not fully reflect his contributions, his innings were invaluable in shaping victories, giving confidence to teammates, and frustrating opponents who knew they had to fight through Pujara before breaking into India’s batting order.

Pujara is unique not only because of his accomplishments in statistics but also because of his attitude. In addition to being a run scorer, he became a symbol of tenacity for Indian cricket because of his capacity to withstand physical abuse, absorb pressure, and still stand strong for his team.

Future generations may look at his numbers, but his true legacy lies in the countless hours he spent grinding in the middle, protecting India’s hopes with unflinching determination. As he steps away from international cricket, Pujara leaves behind a rich legacy that will inspire budding cricketers to value patience, discipline, and character as much as flair. For Indian cricket, he will forever remain “The Wall 2.0,” a guardian of tradition in the modern game.