Cheteshwar Pujara was the mainstay of the Indian batting in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara revealed that he had a blood clot on his shoulder after getting hit 11 times in Brisbane Test.
The rock-solid Cheteshwar Pujara was the unsung hero of India’s Test series victory over Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Having being scored 271 runs off 928 deliveries in the four-match Test series at an average and strike-rate of 33.87 and 29.20 respectively, Pujara was the second-highest run-scorer for the visiting team after Rishabh Pant.
However, his gritty batting in the fourth innings of the Brisbane Test was in a different league. He went on to score his slowest fifty in that match and also was instrumental in taking India to a win. He scored 56 from 211 balls and ensured that he had one end secure, in a mammoth chase.
During that innings, Pujara suffered 11 blows on his body. But despite the difficulties, he stood tall and carried his team through.
Referring to the same Pujara revealed that he had gotten a blood clot on the shoulder but has recovered now.
“There is a little bit of blood clot on the shoulder but it’s all settled, now. I have recovered well,” Cheteshwar Pujara told NDTV.
Cheteshwar Pujara picks the toughest India-Australia Test series he's been part of
Pujara said he was hit on the same finger twice in two Tests which caused unbearable pain.
"You have all the protection when you are wearing the helmet. But the one I got hit on the finger was really painful. That was the toughest blow. I thought my finger was broken. I was first hit on my finger during the net session in Melbourne. I carried the niggle to Sydney. But when I was hit on the same finger in Brisbane, it was unbearable." he said.
Cheteshwar Pujara, 32, further credited Australian bowlers for assessing his batting and bowling with a plan to him.
"Credit goes to Australian bowlers. They study your batting, they assess a lot of videos and then they come up with a plan. To break that, you need a lot of patience, you need to figure out things to break such a game plan," Pujara said.
The Saurashtra batsman talked about playing long innings and said it helps new batsmen.
"When things are difficult out in the middle, you don't want to throw your wicket away and put the team under pressure. When someone plays a long inning, it helps the other batsmen who are walking in next," he concluded.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s strong defense and ability to absorb pressure helped the other batsmen counter-attack the Australian bowling on their way to a famous 2-1 Test series win, which included breaching the fortress at the Gabba, Brisbane.
Pujara’s next assignment will be four-match Test series against England, starting February 5 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
(NDTV Inputs)