Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will play for Gloucestershire in the County Championship Division One later this year.
The talented right-hander has signed a short-term contract for six fixtures with the newly-promoted county. He has previously played for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.
He is currently with India's squad for this month's Test series in New Zealand.
Pujara talks about Gloucestershire stint
“I am really excited to get the opportunity to represent Gloucestershire this season. The club has a rich cricketing history, and this is a great opportunity to be a part of it and contribute to its success,” said Pujara.
“I am grateful to the club for giving me this opportunity and cannot wait to get to Bristol to meet my team-mates and score some runs. I have really enjoyed the experience of coming over to the United Kingdom and playing county cricket over the last few years and I am looking forward to building on that whilst continuing to improve my game.”
The 32-year-old has represented the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League in the past. He, however, was not recruited by a franchise for the 2020 IPL. He is, therefore, available for Gloucestershire's first County Championship Division One fixture of the 2020 season against Yorkshire at Headingley. That match will start on 12 April.
Gloucestershire welcome Pujara with kind words
“Cheteshwar is a player with great temperament who will add international experience to the squad. He is undoubtedly one of the best batsmen in world cricket and we are very fortunate to have him in our squad for the start of the County Championship campaign,” added Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson.
“Adding Pujara to a strong batting line-up gives me great confidence ahead of our opening County Championship matches.”
Pujara has played 75 Tests since debuting in 2010. He has struck 18 Test centuries, including a career-best 206 not out against England in Ahmedabad in 2012. Pujara has also collected two Test double-tons against Australia. The first was 204 in Hyderabad in 2013. The second was 202 in Ranchi in 2017. In January 2019, he hit 193 against the Australians at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
