India Test team's batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t score much as the last season on the recent Australia tour but feels his efforts with the bat in the victorious Test series 2-1 are equally special as his Player of the Series showdown on the 2019 tour.
Pujara had scored 521 runs with the help of three hundred at 41.41 strike rate to play a vital role in India’s historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia two seasons ago, but this time, he could manage only 271 runs with three fifties at 29.20, but he felt his performance on tour was “fantastic” considering the “extraordinary circumstances” this year thanks to COVID-19 pandemic.
The 31-year-old told PTI: “Both tours have been fantastic for the team and personally I did well on both tours but the circumstances were completely different. This time I was starting up after a long time, almost eight months (due to COVID-19), there were no first-class games also.”
He added, “It wasn't easy at all in terms of preparation and the Australian team had a thorough game plan for each of us. Getting back into a rhythm took a little bit of time but luckily all went positive in the end.
Numbers-wise, it may not look like a very, very good series for me but if you look at the pitches, not many runs were scored this time. It was more challenging than last time without a doubt.”
The 81-Test veteran said it is “very difficult to compare both the tours” but the recent one is more special since they won the Test series 2-1 with a weaker and young team in Australia.
The right-hander continued, “Very difficult to compare both the tours but this one is a tad more special considering we had a weaker team with so many youngsters. But I wouldn't say this is the only best series I have been a part of. Even the last series in Australia was tough and the home series too in 2017-18 was among the toughest I have been a part of.”
Pujara's strike-rate was a constant subject of debate during the Australia Test as he wore down Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc to make things slightly easier for his batting partners.
Saying the “strike-rate talk” is just overrated, he added: “There are times when strike rate hardly matters. Every batter has a role to play. The team management completely understands that. Whether it was Ravi Bhai (coach) or Vicky Bhai (batting coach) or Ajinkya, they just told me to keep batting the way I bat.”
He further noted, “The batting coach also mentioned that Aussies were not giving anything away. So, it wasn't that I wasn't batting well but they hardly bowled any loose balls. I had to take extra time to score those runs.
I always saw the bigger picture because I knew that it would be tough for the bowlers to run through the side if I was around at the other end.”
Even my batting changes according to the situation. I don't play only in one way. There are times when pitches are good to bat on, then I will keep rotating the strike. You can't just bat in one way. It is good to have stroke players like Rohit and Rishabh at the other end so I just need to bat the way I do.”
Recently, Pujara became only the 11th Indian batsman to cross the 6000-run mark in Tests during the Australia series and the cricketer said: “It is a great feeling. Statistically, it is a good achievement but I still feel there is still a lot to play for and lots to achieve.”
About playing in bio-bubbles in Australia, Pujara said about his experience: “It is not easy, especially the quarantine, it is the toughest one for all players where you can't even meet each other.”
He signed off by saying, “It is also not easy for guys who are used to going out on tours. Someone like me, who lives a simple life, it is still okay but the way the players (who also played IPL) have explained, it is anything but easy.”
(With PTI Inputs)
