Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara performed brilliantly in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy where he helped his team India Blue to win the title. The middle-order batsman emerged as the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 453 runs from only 2 matches including an innings of 256 not out in the finals. And the batsman has said that playing in the tournament will serve as an ideal preparation for the upcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand.
“It was a good preparation for the New Zealand series and I’m looking forward to it,” Pujara said on Wednesday (September 14). “I like to compete and there is always a price on my wicket. I always feel when I’m set, I have to score big runs and help the team.”
The right-handed batsman is known for playing big innings and his ability came to fore once again in the tournament.
“I’ve been playing a lot of cricket since childhood and I have always enjoyed scoring big runs, right from the junior days, and now it has become a habit.”
Speaking about his experience on the much debated pink-ball cricket, he said: “I enjoyed playing the pink ball, but there are challenges, especially under lights when it is hard to pick the googly.”
India Blue captain Gautam Gambhir also praised Pujara for his fantastic knock.
“I thought when you win the toss and someone gets a 250, it’s fantastic, hopefully, he (Pujara) can carry this form into international cricket,” Gambhir said.
“It’s all about contributing, opening the batting is very important to me. I have always maintained that in a four-day or a five-day game, making a good start is important,” he added.
Gambhir also insisted that the tournament is not all about individuals using it as a platform to impress the selectors but to win as a team.
“I think I have always felt that’s the way the game is meant to be played. I have seen captains say in the past that the Duleep Trophy is about individuals. The first day when I came in, I thought the most important thing was to get the unit together and inculcate the culture of winning in the dressing room. There is no better feeling than to lead the team to a win,” Gambhir said.
“The most important culture is winning. It’s always about winning and not about individual performances. There is no better feeling than winning and getting into a dressing room because a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room,” he said.
Meanwhile, India Reds skipper Yuvraj Singh said that the toss played an important role in deciding the result of the match.
“Since we lost the toss, we did not really bowl well, bowled short and dropped catches as well,” Yuvraj said. “The batsmen, especially Gambhir and Pujara piled on the runs. Your body is tired after staying on the field for 650+ runs. It has been seven days out on the field fielding and it has been very hard on the body.”
“Yes, the toss was very important but credit to them, they bowled better, Jadeja and Pankaj especially. The pink ball is still a mystery, it swung for them but not for us,” he added.