Cheteshwar Pujara to play for Yorkshire in English County Championship
London, April 1 (IANS) Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will play for Yorkshire County Cricket Club during the forthcoming English domestic season.
Pujara, a regular in India's Test team, will replace veteran Pakistan batsman Younus Khan, who has pulled out of an agreement with the club, an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement said on Wednesday.
Younus previously played for Yorkshire in 2007. But Yorkshire decided to replace the 37-year-old with Pujara after it emerged that the batsman is likely be in the Pakistan squad for the tour of Bangladesh next month.
Yorkshire are the defending champions of the County Championship, which starts on April 12.
Pujara has scored 2073 runs in 27 Test matches but was dropped from the Indian Test team for the final match during their tour of Australia. The Saurashtra batsman will see his county stint as a point to prove to the Indian selectors and will look to cement his place in the Indian Test XI.
Sachin Tendulkar was, of course, the first ever Indian cricketer to play for Yorkshire. The little master played 16 matches for the county side in 1992 and was applauded for his maturity as a 19-year-old.