Enough time for county stint, will take call after IPL: Pujara

Pujara was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 50 lakh in mini-auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday. As soon as Pujara was brought by CSK there was a round of applause for him in the room.

Ahmedabad: India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday said the Indian Premier League (IPL) deal will not act as a hindrance towards him playing county cricket this year.

Pujara was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 50 lakh in mini-auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday. As soon as Pujara was brought by CSK there was a round of applause for him in the room.

"First of all, I am really glad to be a part of the IPL, it is good to be back again. I would like to thank the CSK team for picking me, but at the same time, when I am talking about county cricket, I still think I will have enough time before we play England in England. Once IPL gets over, there will be a window for me to play county games. That call I will take once IPL gets over. There will be enough time to play some county games. We also have a couple of practice games in England once the Test series begins there," said Pujara during a virtual press conference on Saturday.

"There is plenty of time to play county cricket but it is good to be back in the IPL. You know, I always want to play the short format of the game, IPL has produced so many great cricketers, some young talent we have got through the IPL, it has helped the Indian team. My focus once this Test series gets over will be on the IPL and once IPL gets over, I will think about county games and then there is a big series coming up against England. I am very hopeful that we will play the World Test Championship final as well which is in June," he added.

He said there is plenty of cricket after the IPL.

"One thing at a time and right now, my focus is on the next two Tests. Both these Tests are important for us to qualify for the finals of the WTC. One game at a time, I think the pink-ball Test is very important, I am focusing on that."

Pujara has played 30 games in the IPL to date and he will now don the yellow jersey. He last played in IPL for Punjab in 2014, the year they reached the final.

The four-match series between India and England currently stands level at 1-1 and now both teams will lock horns in a pink-ball Test, beginning February 24 at the Motera Stadium.

India had achieved an emphatic 317-run win against England in the second Test of the ongoing four-match series. As a result, the series stands level at 1-1 and the Virat Kohli-led side has also reached the second spot in World Test Championship (WTC) standings.

India remains in contention to make the final of the ICC World Test Championship. The victory in Chennai on Tuesday has lifted India to the second position with 69.7 percentage points on the points table but they cannot afford to lose another match as they need to win 2-1 or 3-1 to qualify for the final of the maiden edition of the championship.

England, who led the table after winning the opening Test, has slipped to the fourth spot with 67.0 percentage points. They can still qualify, but for that, they must win both remaining matches of the series against India.