AUS v IND 2020-21: Will Pucovski cherishes “incredible experience”; says facing Ashwin was challenging

Pucovski became the youngest Australia to hit a fifty on Test debut.

Australia’s newest Test opener Will Pucovski finally wore the baggy green cap after many hurdles in his way. He made his debut against India in the SCG Test and hit a maiden fifty, making 62, before falling to another debutant in India’s Navdeep Saini.

The 22-year-old has had a history of concussion-related issues and during the press conference, spoke about the incredible experience of playing Test cricket for Australia.   

"It was a pretty incredible experience. It's meant everything to be honest, that I am putting in a lot of hard yards on and off the field, hopeful that this day would come and it was a very special day," Pucovski said at the virtual post-day press conference.

Pucovski was presented the Baggy Green by his Victoria coach Andrew McDonald.

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"It was very special and I was pretty wrapped when I found out that Ronny was going to be presenting it. We have been through a lot together, he was my first coach in Victoria and it was one of those moments it was nice to share with someone that I do have a close connection with," he said.

The Victorian added 100 runs with Marnus Labuschagne for the second wicket, who ended the day unbeaten on 67. He has Steve Smith (31*) for company, as Australia ended on 166/2 on a rain-affected day.

Meanwhile, Pucovski was all praises for the Indian bowlers but found R Ashwin challenging to face.

"They (Indian bowlers) are all very good. Playing your first game, I would say Ashwin, probably, is the one who is the most unique in a way. Obviously (Jasprit) Bumrah has his unique action but Ashwin just with his different variations and how he uses the same to sort of bowl. But yes his little-different variations, was something that I hadn't really experienced before, so that was quite challenging," said Pucovski.

The youngest Australian to score a fifty on Test debut, Pucovski was sure of Australia dominating the Test match.

"It was a very nice batting wicket. I am very hopeful that with the amount of batting in the team now and what we have got to come, we can post a really good total and then with the world-class attack that we have put them (India) under the pump, hopefully, dominate the game," he said.

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He also mentioned that he had prepared well for the short ball barrage from Indian bowlers.

"I've been bounced non-stop in all cricket I've played really, just with my history of concussion. It's part of it, to be honest. I knew India would come at me pretty hard with it. I felt like I handled it well at times and probably went out of my bubble at other times.

But a lot of that comes down to the excitement of your first game and just making sure you get that first one out of the way then hopefully roll on and improve from my experience today," he said.

He also mentioned that it was awesome to bat with senior pro Labuschagne, saying, “He has been amazing the last couple of years, so just feeding off his experience a little bit. I was honestly telling him how much I was loving it, to be honest, he was great support out in the middle, so it was awesome to bat with such a good player and start to learn a bit about Test cricket.”

(PTI inputs)