“This guy wanted me to be dropped from the team” – An Overheard Telephonic Conversation about Cheteshwar Pujara’s Place in Indian Team

Cheteshwar Pujara was almost dropped during India’s historic 2018-19 Test series win in Australia, despite playing a key role in the first Test. This surprising detail has come to light in his wife Puja Pujara’s book, The Diary of a Cricketer’s Wife.

In the Adelaide Test, Pujara scored a solid century and followed it up with a half-century. His performance helped India take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. But what fans didn’t know at the time was that trouble was already brewing off the field.

Just before the second Test in Perth, Pujara was dealing with a hamstring injury. At the same time, his father had a sudden health emergency and needed immediate hospital care. Puja stayed back to manage the crisis while Pujara continued with the team.

Pujara couldn’t do much with the bat in Perth, scoring only 28 runs across two innings. India lost that Test, and whispers started about his fitness. During the break before the Melbourne Test, Pujara overheard a conversation suggesting he should be dropped from the team.

He didn’t tell anyone about it. Not even his wife.

It was only late on his birthday after the tour ended that he told Puja what he had heard. She described the moment in her book. As they lay on the bed scrolling through birthday wishes, she read one heartfelt post out loud. But Pujara’s strange reaction told her something was off.

“I only learnt of the incident accidentally on Cheteshwar’s birthday after the tour was over. It was around half-past-two in the afternoon, the lights were off and the room was quite dark. Aditi was napping and Cheteshwar and I were reclining on our bed as I scrolled through our social media pages reading out birthday greetings. One message posted on Instagram was particularly effusive and touching. I read it out aloud to Cheteshwar, remarking, ‘Such a sweet gesture—what a lovely message!’ There was complete silence. He did not say a word. Puzzled, I looked up from my phone and caught a most peculiar expression on Cheteshwar’s face—one that was simultaneously secretive and pitying. I had no trouble translating his mind — it was his vintage you’re-so-naïve-and-trusting look I had seen it before and was therefore quite familiar with it.

‘What’s wrong,’ I asked. ‘Nothing,’ he said, at his taciturn best. But I was not buying it. I knew quite well that when Cheteshwar went completely quiet, it usually meant he was concealing something. It was a frequent occurrence. I usually learnt of on-field gossip and politics from other players’ wives, never from him. Throughout my marriage, Cheteshwar’s description of his various trips had been limited to three unvarying sentences: ‘We had practice, a team meeting and then I returned to the room.’ Day in and day out, year after year, I had been treated to the same standard lines. He was ready to talk about everything but his professional life. There were times when I would wonder if he even knew what was happening in the world around him.

After pushing him to open up, he finally said, “This guy you’re praising wanted me to be dropped from the team because of fitness issues.” Puja was shocked. When she asked why he hadn’t told her earlier, Pujara calmly replied, “Such things happen, and not everything deserves a reaction. I played and played well and that’s what matters.”

“But in this instance, I was not about to let him clam up on me. He tried to fend me off, but I finally wore him down. ‘This guy you’re praising,’ commented Cheteshwar laconically, ‘wanted me to be dropped from the team because of fitness issues.’ I gaped at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why did you go through it alone?’ ‘Such things happen,’ he shrugged, ‘and not everything deserves a reaction. I played and played well and that’s what matters. You don’t need to dwell too much on the incident. But it’s important that you learn not to trust everything that takes place on social media’,” she wrote.

This quiet strength was always part of Pujara’s personality, as Puja wrote. He rarely talked about team matters or professional struggles, even with her. His focus stayed on doing his job.

And that’s what he did. Pujara played the Melbourne Test, performed brilliantly, and ended up being named Player of the Series. India won the series 2-1, their first-ever Test series win in Australia.