Cheteshwar Pujara Believes The Test Series In Next Australia Tour Will Be Important For Them
Mar 21, 2020 at 4:48 AM
At the end of this year, India will play the Test series against the hosts Australia. The Indian Test specialist cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara believes that it is going to be one of the most important series for them.
The present Indian team is holding the top position of the Test team rankings for a long time. India last time toured in Australia in 2018/19 summer where they created history by winning their first-ever Test (2-1) and ODI series (2-1) in that tour. However, the top Australian batsmen Steven Smith and David Warner were not available for the selection in that period due to the suspensions.
During India tour of Australia in 2020/21 summer, a four-match Test series will be played which will also be the part of the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship. Pujara believes it will be one of the most important series for them as they have to face a very stronger and confident Australian team. However, Pujara is confident of achieving another success in this tour but also has pointed out the importance of workload management for the fast bowlers.
Pujara told PTI, “It is one of the most important series for us. They (Smith and Warner) are important players but if we played the way we played in the last series, we should be able to beat them.
“(Indian) fast bowlers have to be fresh and ready for that series and I am sure their workload will be managed. Best part about the tour is that we recently played in Australia (2018-19). I feel that is the biggest advantage for us.”
Cheteshwar Pujara talked about why India are not consistent enough in the overseas Tests
Recently, India lost the two-match Test series in New Zealand (by the 2-0 margin) where they totally failed to put enough strong fights. It was their first Test series defeat in the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship as before the New Zealand tour India won all their seven Tests in this Test Championship. So, it is also a big reason why the next Australia tour will be crucial for the Indian team.
Talking about India’s recent inconsistent performances in the Test cricket outside Asia, Pujara has pointed out the increasing importance for the limited-overs cricket.
He claimed, “The importance of limited overs cricket has increased significantly. You are not getting too many quality Test players. Earlier, there was a lot of importance given to a Test series. Players used to take ample rest before that. Now we see so many injuries during the season.
“If you look India, Australia, England, the pool of players will be not more than 20-25 whereas if you talk about 10 years ago, India used to have 30-50 players who were ready for Test cricket. I am not saying there are no players available. But if they are ready for Test cricket or not, that is the question.”
Cheteshwar Pujara was the hero for India during their historic Test series victory in Australia in 2018/19 season. In that series, Pujara finished as the most run-scorer after scoring 521 runs with an average of 74.42.