Will Virat Kohli's retirement open door for out-of-contention Cheteshwar Pujara in India's tour of England?

Virat Kohli's retirement from Test cricket on Monday left everyone shocked. The former India captain's retirement from the longest format was on cards since reports emerged that the star batter doesn't want to fly to England for the five-match Test series next month.

Kohli's retirement has created a void in the Indian middle-order ahead of the series against England which starts on June 20. While India have the likes of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant in the middle order, it looks largely experienced considering the English conditions which favours pace and swing.

With no Kohli at No.4, the names of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have cropped up whether the senior duo deserves a chance against England. Both Rahane and Pujara have been among the runs in the domestic cricket recently, scoring bulk of runs.

For the record, Pujara scored 402 runs in seven matches at an average of 40.20 for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25, while Rahane managed managed 467 runs at an average of 35.92 for Mumbai in the same tournament. In fact, Pujara had scored a double hundred too.

Both Pujara and Rahane, last played for India in Tests was in 2023.

What keeps Pujara ahead of Rahane?

One of the major aspects that keeps Pujara ahead of Rahane was the former's form for Sussex during County Championships in 2023 and 2024 season. Since his last Test for India, Pujara has extensively featured for Sussex across formats, scoring a bulk of runs.

In 2023 season of County Championship Division Two, Pujara played eight matches, scoring 649 runs, which included three centuries at an average of 54.08. The right hander returned for the next season to score another 501 runs from six games at 62.62, including two hundreds.

Hunger is even more: Cheteshwar Pujara

Earlier in the year, Pujara has also expressed his desire to play for the Indian team again if given a chance. "I am playing domestic cricket. If given a chance, I am ready to grab it with both hands. The hunger is even more. When you are older, you need to work even harder," Pujara has said at a RevSportz conclave.

Cheteshwar Pujara's statistics in Tests

Pujara, so far has played 103 Tests, scoring 7195 runs with 19 hundreds. In England, Pujara has played 16 Tests, scoring 870 runs with a best of 132.