Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has expressed his thoughts on the possible absence of Cheteshwar Pujara from India's squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Pat Cummins

For the unversed, Pujara last played for Team India in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. He failed to bring the best out of himself as he scored 14 and 27 in India's defeat.

Pujara who is best known for his gritty resilience and marathon innings, played a crucial role in India's historic series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21. According to Cummins, facing Pujara was the essence of "real Test cricket".

"It was always great playing (against) Pujara. He was one of those guys who never really felt like he was getting away from you. But then he would (just) bat, bat, bat and bat," Pujara was quoted as saying by PTI.

Furthermore, the Australian captain stated that he enjoyed the battles against Pujara before adding that Pujara came out on top in some days whereas he (Cummins) won on other days.

"I really enjoyed the contest against him. Some days he won, other days I won. It's going to have a bit of a different feel without him. Pujara is a great player. I had lots of battles against him over the years. I quite enjoyed them, to be honest. It was real Test cricket. He might score runs, but you always feel like you're in for a chance." Cummins added.

Pujara averages 47.28 in Australia. He scored 997 runs in 11 games Down Under, including three centuries and 5 half-centuries, which is really an impressive record. He registered his best score of 193 in Sydney in 2019.