India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will join Yorkshire for a second stint this season and share overseas duties with New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
Having been overlooked in the Indian Premier League auction over the weekend, the 30-year-old Pujara will link up with the White Rose ahead of their pre-season friendly against Leeds Bradford MCCU on April 7.
Yorkshire now have three of the world’s top six Test batsmen in their line-up this summer. Apart from Pujara – ranked sixth in the world – Yorkshire’s team also features England captain Joe Root (third) and Williamson (fourth).
Pujara, who averages 50.51 after 57 Tests and spent part of the 2015 campaign at Yorkshire, will return to India for the historic first Test against Afghanistan from June 14-18.
However, he is expected to return for Yorkshire’s county championship clash against Hampshire on June 20, while the county hope he will rejoin the club for their final two matches after India’s Test tour of England this summer.
One loser and one very clear winner after the Australia v England ODI series
Excited to be here, again! https://t.co/g4Cz9ImsHV
— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) January 30, 2018
India are scheduled to play five Tests in England between August 1 and September 11.
“I’m really excited to be able to have the opportunity to represent Yorkshire once again,” Pujara said.
“It’s always nice to be able to come over here and play some county cricket and I’m just as excited as I was last time to represent the club. I love the passion the people of Yorkshire have for the game and they made me feel very welcome.
“It’s an honour for me to play for the same county as Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar and each time I’ve played county cricket it has improved me as a player. That’s the plan again in 2018. I just want to score as many runs as possible for Yorkshire and soak up as much as I can from the whole experience.”
Pujara’s first spell in county cricket was with Derbyshire in 2014, while he played for Nottinghamshire last season, and he has amassed three centuries and as many fifties in that time.
Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon said: “It goes without saying that Cheteshwar is a highly-driven individual and very skilled batsman.
“Just as he did in 2015, Pujara will relish the challenge of performing in English conditions. He’s very difficult to dislodge and will hopefully dominate the crease for us during his stay.”
Yorkshire last month announced Williamson would be available for 11 NatWest T20 Blast fixtures and four county championship matches from July 13 to September 4.
