In addition to India registering a 2-1 series victory and retaining the trophy for the fourth time in a row, Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 will also be remembered for being a saga of revenge between India batter Cheteshwar Pujara and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin.
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Played in Nagpur last month, the first match of the series had involved Ashwin being promoted as a nightwatchman at No. 3, a position which is reserved for Pujara in India’s Test XI. Ashwin, who was confident of Pujara sacrificing his preferred batting number for him in the subsequent matches, witnessed the latter bowling in place of him in the recently concluded last Test in Ahmedabad.
It all happened in the 78th over of the Australian innings on Day 5 when India captain Rohit Sharma introduced Pujara into the bowling attack. With the match headed for a draw, both the teams were biding time until a point where they could shake hands and walk-off an hour before the scheduled conclusion of the day’s play.
Cheteshwar Pujara bowling in Ahmedabad Test allures hilarious dig from R Ashwin
It was during this inconsequential period of play when Pujara bowled an over giving away a solitary run without picking any wicket. Ashwin, who was seen smiling at the sight of Pujara bowling in Test cricket, jokingly labeled it as the “highest point” of his career.
“Highest point for Puji [Chesteshwar Pujara] was that Steve Smith recognized he bowled a flipper [laughs],” Ashwin told host broadcaster Star Sports Network during a chat after the match.
Cheteshwar Pujara bowling record
Playing his 102nd Test match, it is worth mentioning that 35-year old Pujara bowled only for the second time at the highest level. It was in the fourth Test of South Africa’s tour of India 2015 in Delhi when Pujara had first bowled for India.
Having also bowled only one over on what was also a Day 5 pitch over seven years ago, Pujara had conceded a couple of runs back then. All in all, Pujara’s bowling figures in this format read 2-0-3-0.
Pujara, who will remember this series for his 100th Test, scored 140 runs across six innings at an average of 28. Ashwin, meanwhile, won a Player of the Series award for the 10th time in his career to only be behind legendary Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (11) on the list of most Player of the Series awards in Test cricket.
