Yorkshire bring back Pujara for 2018 campaign

The Indian has agreed a deal to return to Headingley this season and will share overseas duties with New Zealand captain Kane Williamson

^{Cheteshwar Pujara is back in the Yorkshire ranks}

Yorkshire will have three of the world's top six red-ball batsmen in their ranks in 2018 following the arrival of Cheteshwar Pujara.

The Indian has agreed a deal to return to Headingley this season and will share overseas duties with New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

With Joe Root also on the staff, the White Rose have the men ranked three, four and six in the world to choose from.

Pujara, 29, will be on duty with his country during their tour of England, as well as a one-off Test against Afghanistan but could stay with the White Rose through until the very end of the County Championship season.

“I’m really excited to be able to have the opportunity to represent Yorkshire once again,” he told the club's official website.

^{Pujara will share overseas duties with Kane Williamson}

“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.

“I know quite a few of the players, so I’ll just try to play my natural game and score plenty of runs for the club.

“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, who has three Championship centuries to his name, is expected to arrive in the UK in time for the game against Leeds/Bradford MCCU on April 7.

“It goes without saying that Cheteshwar is a highly-driven individual and very skilled batsman,” said Yorkshire director of cricket Martyn Moxon. “We’re delighted to have him on board.

“He proved to be a very likable character the last time he was with us and the plan is for him to relieve some of the pressure on the top order that we struggled with at times in 2017.

“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.”

^{The Indian batsman played for Yorkshire last season}