MUMBAI: The last time Cheteshwar Pujara played a Test at the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera, Ahmedabad in 2012, he struck an unbeaten 206. That’s a knock he remembers fondly.
Nearly nine years later, he is back at the venue where India take on England in the third Test of the series starting Wednesday, with the only catch that this is going to be a day/night affair in an arena that has had a massive facelift and everything there is going to be unknown to players of both sides.
Then, there is the cold statistic that India were shot out for only 36 in the second innings, the last time they featured in a D/N Test at Adelaide against Australia last December. However, that nightmare was followed by what is part of cricketing folklore now.

“It was a different ballgame altogether. We were playing in Australia, the ball was seaming around a lot and one session of bad batting led to a disaster. Here the ball is different, we will be playing with the SG ball, so we are confident of putting up a good show,” Pujara said on Saturday after India’s training session.
No first-class game has taken place at Motera since the gigantic structure that can accommodate 1,10,000 spectators was built. How much does that weigh on both teams?

Image credit: Pujara’s Twitter handle.
“We will come to know about the pitch once we play a game there, but it’s a beautiful stadium. We have had training sessions yesterday and today and all of us are excited at the prospect of playing there. I have fond memories of playing here in 2012,” added Pujara.
The 33-year-old has other reasons to celebrate these days with CSK bidding for him at the recently-concluded IPL auction. But, will that in any way have a bearing on the fact that he also plays county cricket in summer and that India will engage in a five-Test series against England soon after?

Image credit: Pujara’s Twitter handle.
“I am really glad to be part of the IPL. It’s good to be back again and I would like to thank CSK for the opportunity. At the same time, we will have some time before the England Test series. Once IPL gets over, there will be a window where I can play a few county games. But that’s a call I will take once IPL gets over,” he reckoned.