Cheteshwar Pujara has reiterated why he was touted as the next Rahul Dravid during his initial time in the Indian team and how he has gone from strength to strength despite a slow start to his Test journey in 2018.
After a couple of failures in the South Africa Test series, Pujara bounced back on the away tours of England and Australia. Against England, he scored a valuable century, but his best came against Australia, as he amassed over 500 runs in four Tests and scored three centuries to earn the Man of the Series award in India’s maiden Test series win down under.
Even the Australian team was fed up with Pujara, as he racked up scores of 123, 71, 24, 4, 106 and 193 and after his marathon 193 in Sydney Test, he received an exhausted quip from Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who said, "Aren't you bored yet?".
Australia has always been Pujara’s favorite opponents, as he started off with a brilliant 70 odd on his debut in a difficult chase. This rivalry was renewed in 2017 Test series when Australia toured India and gained an upper hand with the win in the first Test at Pune.
During an interview with the Times of India, Pujara revealed an even funnier quip from the Australian during the 2017 series, where in the Ranchi Test, Pujara batted for well over 500 balls. Australian players were bogged down by Pujara’s resilience and Pujara recalls a humorous sledge from his opponents.
"I never thought that he'll say such a thing. And then when we were playing against Australia in the third Test in Ranchi in 2017, one of the players came and told me 'Now if you don't get out, we'll have to ask for wheelchairs.' I was batting on 170-plus. That's the best sledge I remember from an Aussie player," Pujara told the Times of India.
"There were many instances but I remember the first Test. Nathan Lyon and Tim Paine tried to sledge me. They almost felt that the game was over when we were 40 for four, they thought that we'll be bowled out for 150-160,” said Pujara.
"And even later on, I think in the third or fourth Test, they were trying to sledge me but at the same time, they started laughing in the end. Lyon came and told me: 'Aren't you bored of batting now? You've scored so many runs'" he said.
(inputs of TOI)
