When I went to play for Sussex, India's comeback was not in my mind, reveals Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Indian Test squad during their last assignment against Sri Lanka two months earlier. He was not in the best of form for over two years and because of that, Hanuma Vihari was preferred at his familiar No.3 position. Vihari did well, and many had thought Pujara might not be able to return to the set-up again.

"I was just trying to find my old form. If you look at my innings in the past, I was getting 80s, 90s, so I never felt I was out of form even when the big runs were not coming. I was just hoping to get big runs. Big runs mean not 100 but 150-plus scores. Because to get back to my usual concentration level, I needed those big scores. And I found that in England. I found my rhythm and as I got those runs, things began to fall in place.”

"You can say that now in hindsight. Had I been picked by an IPL team, there were major chances that I wouldn’t have got any games. I would have just gone (to nets) and practised. Getting match practice and practice in the nets is always different. So when the county thing happened, I just said yes. The major reason I said yes to the county (stint) is that I wanted my old rhythm back," he added.