Guwahati: India star batter Cheteshwar Pujara finally won his 2017 Arjuna Award trophy from Anurag Thakur on Saturday.
The batsman was nominated by the BCCI for the prestigious award in 2017, but was unable to accept it because he was preoccupied with competing for his English country side at the time.
Pujara thanked the government and BCCI in a message he posted online after getting the award from the Union Minister.
“Thankful to @IndiaSports, @BCCI and @ianuragthakur to organise and handover the Arjuna Award belatedly, which I could not collect the year it was awarded to me due to my cricket commitments. Honoured and grateful,” tweeted the batter.
Pujara was the focal point of India’s successful 2017 13-match home Test series, which they won, hitting 1316 runs—the highest-ever total for an Indian batter in a single Test season.
Earlier, Pujara extended his deal with Sussex, the county team of England, through the 2023 campaign.
Pujara had a significant impact on Sussex after joining the team last year. He scored over 1000 County Championship runs, including three double centuries that broke the record, and finished the campaign with an average of 109.4.
In the 50-over Royal London Cup, while Tom Haines was sidelined with an injury, he captained the team in Tom Haines’ absence and guided them to the semifinals.
Pujara averaged 89.14 at a strike-right of 111.62 in his nine RL50 appearances, with his top score of 174 coming against Surrey in just 131 deliveries.
In his most recent test match, the Indian hitter scored 13 and 66 runs in the first and second innings, respectively, against England in Birmingham.