Cheteshwar Pujara likes to best remember India's 2018-19 tour to Australia as one where the team's "collective effort" shone through in winning a Test series down under for the very first time.
That, of course, wouldn't have been possible without Pujara's 521 runs at 74.42, including terrific hundreds in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, for which he was awarded "Player-of-the-Series".
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But for the man himself, there was more pleasure in seeing the team overcome the disappointments of South Africa, England than any personal milestone.
"I would still say it was a collective effort. Yes, I did perform exceptionally well. I am happy about that, no doubt, but when we go back again you have to start from scratch again. It (past performance) will help me for sure but one has to prepare again. You can't take your past glories to the current series," Pujara told PTI, also looking ahead to the next tour to Australia later this winter.
The 32-year-old would be hoping for the world to soon overcome the COVID-19 pandemic so that he can get some first-class games under his belt and be prepared for another difficult series on Aussie shores.
"I would still have some first-class games before the Australia tour," he said. "I am prepared for anything. This is the time when we can't just be thinking about sporting events. First, we have to win this battle against coronavirus."
"A person's life is much more important than a sporting event. All the sporting events (including Olympics) have been postponed. One has to be prepared as we are going through rare times."
"We just need to make sure the virus is contained and things get back to normal. After that, we can talk about the game."
The country has been forced to opt for a 21-day lockdown amid the crisis but Pujara is looking at the positive side of things.
"I usually take everything in a positive way. Sometimes you need to take a break as a sportsperson and there can't be a better time. We just won the Ranji and it is the right time to take three to four weeks off."
In this phase, he has had a rare opportunity to take a break from his regular busy schedule and spend time with his family. Pujara, however, is also keeping in mind the bigger picture and not compromising on his fitness at all.
"Luckily I have a gym at home. Being a small-town guy, I can't go out to the gym and train there (because he will be mobbed). With the gym at home, I can still do my strength sessions, cycling and running. I also do yoga which helps a lot," he said.
Pujara is one of the elite Indian sports personalities who got the chance to speak to PM Narendra Modi via video call to discuss ways to best tackle with this period.
"The Prime Minister wanted us to pass on the fighting spirit of a sportsperson to the general public. Sportspersons do inspire to fight," he said.
"Most of us are following the government guidelines on lockdown but there are still some who are taking the virus casually. They don't realise that they could be affected."
"Every single person is a soldier at the moment. If you stay indoors, you are fighting the battle for your own country. There has to be a collective effort else we can't win this."
(Inputs from PTI)
