One of India’s mainstays in the middle order, Cheteshwar Pujara, is going through a purple patch in his career and has been scoring runs for fun. His ability to stay in the middle for long hours makes him a special player especially in the longest format of the game. Playing in his landmark 50th Test, Pujara struck yet another century in the 1st innings of the ongoing Test which was his 3rd in 4 innings.
He has transformed himself as a batsman in the past couple of years and his father who according to Pujara is his best and worst critic revealed the secret of the success of his son.
“If there is something that sets him apart, it’s balance of mind. He has always been a focussed person, who doesn’t get distracted until he has reached his goals. This is one trait I noticed since he was making triple centuries at the under-14 level. Even today in Colombo, I saw no difference,” Arvind Pujara wrote in his column for the New Indian Express.
“A lot of his success has to do with mindset. Of course he has the skills and other traits to excel at this level, but mental discipline has been his biggest strength. No college or university could have taught this, which is why I insist that the contribution made by his mother has been immense,” he further added.
Pujara’s innings of 133 was laced with 12 hits to the fence and a solitary six. He applied himself tremendously and along with Ajinkya Rahane, the duo shared a brilliant 217 runs stand for the 4th wicket which put the visitors in a commanding position. Rahane also played a brilliant knock in Pujara before getting dismissed on 132. Hiss innings was studded with 14 fours.
We are almost half way through in to the 2nd day of the Test and India has already batted the Lankans out of the match and all the hosts could hardly hope for is to salvage a draw from this match which currently looks pretty bleak. The pitch has assisted the spinners and it has been the Indian batsmen who has made light work of the Lankan spinners despite the pitch not being the best to bat on.