Cheteshwar Pujara has truly established himself as the lynchpin of Indian batting after his sensational performance in the Test series in Australia. In a series where most of the batsmen including Virat Kohli struggled to perform consistently, Pujara looked class apart.
While no other batsmen in the series could score more than 350 runs, Pujara scored a staggering 521 runs with the help of three centuries as India beat Australia 2-1 to register their first-ever Test series win on the Australian soil. He faced a staggering 1,258 balls in the series which is the most by an Indian in a Test series in Australia surpassing Rahul Dravid’s 1203 balls in the 2003/04 tour. The Saurashtra star batted approximately 1869 minutes in this Test series which is the third most by an Indian in a Test series.
He deservedly walked away with the Man of the Series Award. He then continued his form in the Ranji Trophy too, helping Saurashtra make it to the final where they lost to Vidarbha. The right-hander then stunned one and all by showing he can deliver in T20s too. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he scored his maiden T20 ton and followed it up with knocks of 68, 42 not out and 39 not out.
Pujara, however, has said his best is yet to come. He said that he would like to replicate his performance in Australia in the coming Tests too.
“My peak is yet to come. I am batting well and enjoying my game. But there have been instances where I have played some exceptional innings in domestic cricket and I want to do that in international cricket as well. Australia was one example but going forward I will like to continue to do that wherever we play Test cricket,” Pujara told The Times of India.
He further admitted that he is batting well at the moment before stating that things are changing, referring to his exploits in T20s.
I have been batting well this season. 2018 and 19 has been fantastic especially the Australia series which was very important. Personally I gained a lot of confidence. After that, I have realised my game even better and it was just a matter of time. I have been scoring runs but there was a phase when I didn’t score a lot of runs in Test cricket. But the last two years has been good so far and I will like to continue from where I left. I was playing some matches for Saurashtra in Syed Mushtaq Ali and scored runs there. Things are changing. I am scoring in shorter-format also,” he said.
Pujara, meanwhile, is currently playing for Tamil Nadu Cricket Association first division side Mylapore Recreation Club ‘A’. On Tuesday, he hit a majestic 163 on his TNCA debut that helped MRC ‘A’ end Day 1 on 309-3 against CromBest at the VB Nest ground.