Pujara's team featured a star-studded lineup of players he shared the dressing room with.
Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara named his all-time teammates XI, featuring a star-studded lineup of players he shared the dressing room with.
Pujara’s lineup, shared by Cricinfo on social media, balances massive batting legacy from the early 2010s with India's modern-day bowling core.
The team includes legendary opening pair Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, with Pujara slotting himself into his trademark No. 3 position.
Sachin Tendulkar was picked to bat at No. 4, followed by Virat Kohli and VVS Laxman. Rishabh Pant was preferred over MS Dhoni for the designated wicketkeeper-batter spot.
The bowling lineup features the iconic spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja alongside arguably India's finest modern pace pairing, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.
Ishant Sharma was chosen as the 12th man, with Pujara noting that he would swap the lanky pacer into the starting XI if conditions require a three-pronged pace attack.
Pujara also made a mention of seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t played Test cricket since 2018 due to fitness issues.
“Also, I’ll pick another seamer, which is Ishant Sharma at number 12. So, depending on the conditions, I might go with 3 seamers, and I haven’t added a fast-bowling all-rounder, but if the need be, I might choose Hardik somewhere in that list," he said.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s all-time teammates XI: Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, VVS Laxman, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami
12th man: Ishant Sharma