One of the mainstays of the Indian team in the longest format of the game, Cheteshwar Pujara is all set to appear in his 50th Test match for his country when India lock horns with Sri Lanka in the 2nd Test of the three-match series starting on Thursday.
He has undoubtedly been India’s most dependable batsman of late and has scored heaps of runs in the last year or so.
In the 49 Tests, Pujara has played so far, the Saurashtra lad has amassed 3966 runs at a pretty impressive average of 52.18 including 12 tons. His previous ton came in the opening Test against Sri Lanka which India won by a record 304 runs. Pujara during his interaction also revealed that his father is his best and worst critic but with time he has mellowed down a lot and both come to a conclusion nowadays after having a discussion.
“My father has always been my best and worst critic. At times, he has been very critical but now we have come to an understanding, where we always speak and we come to a conclusion. And he is not very strict anymore,” Pujara said of his father’s contribution in his career.
The right-hander said that the journey in the national team has been remarkable so far.
“It has been a wonderful journey so far. Playing the 50th Test match for the country will be a proud moment for me. Yes, there have been ups and downs but looking at my recent (good) form, I will be keen to score some runs in my 50th Test,” said Pujara.
Injuries have been a part of Pujara’s career and his double knee surgery doesn’t allow him to have fit legs like a Kohli or a Jadeja. He conceded that not being able to play due to injuries was very tough on him, as he was slowly building his name in the international circuit.
“Getting injured was the most challenging time of my career. I was out for six months due to a knee injury and then again in 2011 when I was out for another six months. Overall, I wasn’t able to play for a year, which was really tough on me.”
“When you get injured, you need to get that rhythm going for you again as your concentration goes down. Injuries were the toughest part of my career but now I have come out of it and I am working hard on my fitness,” he further added.
Pujara was out of the Indian squad for a few months due to indifferent form but made a staggering return on his comeback Test against Sri Lanka in 2015. He was asked to open the innings and he grinds his way to a brilliant 145 and carried his bat through the innings. His innings helped India clinch the 3-match series by a 2-1 margin. That particular innings again channelized Pujara’s career in the right direction.
“When I got a hundred in Sri Lanka, in 2015, everything changed. After that, I think, even in domestic cricket, I have scored some runs. When you start playing domestic cricket and start scoring big runs, you gain a lot of confidence.
“You know what are the changes required in your game and if you have made some changes in your game, then you can try and implement those things in domestic cricket. I think playing domestic cricket did help me,” added Pujara.
He revealed that it was Rahul Dravid who stood by him when he was not able to convert the starts into a big one. When Pujara was captaining the India A side Dravid told him that he doesn’t have any flaws in his technique and a big score is just around the corner. Pujara said Dravid’s inputs has helped him shape his career in the right direction.
“There was nothing wrong with my technique because after that I spoke to Rahul (Dravid) bhai, who just told me that you should continue the way you have been playing. I just trusted my game, worked hard on it and I was just one inning away,” said Pujara.
“When you are playing for the Indian team, everyone wants you to perform and everyone did support me. There was a time when I didn’t score many runs. But everyone was confident that I would make a comeback. When I played my comeback Test and scored runs, they came and said “We all knew that you will score these runs’. I was really happy to hear that,” Pujara added.
He also spoke about his experience of sharing the dressing room with stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid Pujara said,
“From the legends (Tendulkar and Dravid), one thing I learnt was that they always worked hard on their game. Many of them scored more than 10,000 runs and the way they were still working hard on the game, always trying to improve their game.
They were all grounded and they were trying to support young players. “Their work ethic, determination and pride in representing the country was always there,” Pujara opined.
Also Read: (Cheteshwar Pujara says domestic cricket helped succeed in Tests)