TNI Bureau: Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara justified his inclusion in the ODI squad with a superb triple hundred against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match in Rajkot.

Pujara’s innings is seen as a match practice ahead of the first ODI between India and England at Rajkot on January 11. With this solid knock, Pujara helped Saurashtra to reach the semifinals. He had scored 203 off 221 balls against Madhya Pradesh in the previous game.

In the Test series against England recently, Pujara scored a hundred and a double hundred, signalling his aim to fill up the vacuum created after Rahul Dravid’s departure from Team India.