Cheteshwar Pujara all set to play for Yorkshire in English County Championship

Cheteshwar Pujara all set to play for Yorkshire in English County Championship: Indian test team batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is all set play for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in the upcoming English county season, after he was ignored by all eight franchsies during the auctions for the eighth season of IPL the batsman has acquired the requisite permissions and will now go to England to be a part of county cricket.

Pujara will be the second player after Sachin Tendulkar to represent Yorkshire County. He will replace veteran Pakistan batsman Younis Khan in the squad, who has pulled out of an agreement with the club.

Fact wise, Younis had first declared himself available for complete season but later said that he will be busy on national duty, touring Bangladesh with Pakistan squad during April and May and cleared his unavailability. Yorkshire management decided to cancel Younis’s deal and signed with Pujara immediately.

Yorkshire are the defending champions of the County Championship, which begins from April 12.

Yorkshire director of cricket Martin Moxon said, “It is very disappointing, at this late stage, to pull out of the agreement with Younis, “When the deal was agreed initially, it was on the understanding that Younis would not tour Bangladesh with Pakistan. Younis made it clear to us on Sunday that he would find it difficult to turn down should he be selected.”

“At this late stage that is no good to us. We had to make a decision and as result we have decided to cancel his contract.

Moxon further added, “But Pujara is a superb player who is hungry to perform in the English game. He is a classy right-hander who likes to dominate the crease and he will be a big asset for us during the early part of the new campaign.”

Pujara has scored 2073 runs in 27 Test matches but was unfortunately dropped from the Indian Test team for the final match against Australia due to lack of form. Pujara, on signing the contract said, “I’m very excited and honored to be signing for Yorkshire. The club’s history is fantastic and being the current Champions is a testament to the quality of the club and staff.”

“I was looking to return to the UK after my previous experience of county cricket, which I greatly enjoyed and when Yorkshire made the offer I didn’t think twice.To wear the same white rose Sachin Tendulkar did is going to be a great feeling for me.I hope I can contribute to further success”.

It was, Sachin Tendulkar who was not only the first Indian cricketer, but also the very first foreign national to play for the prestigious Yorkshire Cricket County.