Sri Lanka Vs India 1st Test: Hardik Pandya Is The Perfect All-Rounder For Us: Cheteshwar Pujara

Jul 27, 2017 at 8:11 PM

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Sri Lanka Vs India 1st Test: Hardik Pandya Is The Perfect All-Rounder For Us: Cheteshwar Pujara

The four-month gap between the last Test and the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka has not affected Cheteshwar Pujara’s form at all as India’s Mr Dependable started off from where he had left in the long home series. The right-handed batsman finished the 2016-17 season with a staggering 1316 runs which included four hundreds and eight half-centuries and scored a brilliant 153 against Sri Lanka.

Pujara had begun the second day on 144 but managed to add only 9 runs before being dismissed by Nuwan Pradeep. But his innings laid the platform for a big total and the other batsmen fully capitalised on it as India posted a massive 600. In reply, Sri Lanka finished the day in a precarious position of 154 for 5.

Speaking at the post-day presser, Pujara shared his views on his approach in Test cricket, Hardik Pandya’s impressive debut and much more.

Excerpts:

On whether he gets extra motivation to perform in Test:

Whenever I play cricket, at the international or first class level, I enjoy this game. I don’t need any extra motivation as far as cricket is concerned. I love playing this game, I love my batting. Whenever I get the opportunity to score some runs or do something on the field, I always like that challenge and I am always very well prepared. I trust in my preparation and work hard on the same. Whenever there is a challenge, I am always up for it.

On Hardik Pandya:

I think he is a very good all-rounder. When it comes to his batting, he is trusting his strength. The way he was batting, I think that’s how he should be batting even going ahead. This was the right situation for him, the way he bats. He could dominate the bowlers, he could play his shots. When he is playing with the tail-enders, that’s the way he should be playing. He has showcased that even at the highest level. Being an all-rounder it always helps because we need someone who can bowl 10 overs in a day if there is an opportunity. He is the perfect all-rounder for us.

On how he prepared during the four-month gap:

I played about four County matches which always helps. When I have time in between the matches and if I am not part of the IPL, I prefer to play some County matches. It gives me exposure to playing in different conditions, facing different bowlers and playing County cricket is always challenging. You never get easy runs… most of the times you are playing on challenging wickets. As a cricketer, it teaches you a lot. The technique improves and when you come to play international cricket again, you have some experience of playing some first-class cricket and always in touch with the game.

On whether attacking spin can be decisive in the series:

If you start well, it always puts opposition on the back foot. When you are playing international level, you still expect them to fight back and we won’t take them lightly. We would like to stick to what we want to do and that was the reason for our success in the home season. We stuck to our strengths, stuck to things which we wanted to and excelled as a team. When you start off well, opposition is always on the backfoot. As Indian batsmen, we have enough exposure to spin in domestic circuit. All our batsmen are batting well. Even lower-order like Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin, Saha, Hardik, all of them can bat well. We all bat well against spinners.

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