Indian opener Cheteshwar Pujara said that the body blows he withstood through during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 at Brisbane, propelled him to do better, and helped him remain focused throughout the game to end the match with a victory or a draw.
The Border-Gavaskar 2020-21 Trophy in Australia was a historic win for the Indian team. India registered their lowest test score ever in the first Test at Adelaide, getting all out for 36.
To add to their difficulties, some of the main, experienced players faced injuries as the series went on, and were ruled out. Despite the hardships, the team outperformed the Australian team and clinched the series 2-1.
The most historic win came at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, also called Gabba, where the Aussies had to face their first defeat in more than 30 years.
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Talking to ANI, Pujara said, "I think it (body blows) motivated me to do better. Yes, I was in a bit of pain during the first two blows. When I was stuck 2-3 times more at the same spot, the pain was more. At one point I was hit in my fingers, it was unbearable. It was unbearable. I had a chat with physio and he asked If I want to take painkillers. I refused because I do not take medicines during the game because it disturbs my concentration sometimes.
So I just told myself that I am being hit on my body, but my focus to draw the game or win it for my country. My focus was to ensure that we do not lose too many wickets during the first two sessions, during the final day of the game," Pujara added.
Pujara was present at the trailer launch event of ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’, a Voot Select show that captures the journey of India’s 2020/21 tour of Australia.
He also spoke about his 148-run partnership with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant at Sydney during the third Test, which helped India end the game in a draw.
"We (Pant and Pujara) were under pressure and we had to make sure we do not lose too many wickets at that stage and have a few more runs at the board to make pressure on the bowlers. When you are chasing 400-plus, it is not easy. What we tried was to build a partnership and think of things we could control, which was to play one session at a time, one hour at a time," said Pujara.
Pujara said that he decided to play his own game and go for the shots once he got settled, while Pant kept up his natural aggressive game.
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"So it was an important partnership between us, followed by what Ashwin and Vihari did to save the game for us," Pujara added.
On being asked whether Pant’s aggressive batting tempted him to go for more aggressive shots, he said, "Not really. One has to stick to their individual strengths. I can't do what Pant does. He cannot do what I do. We have to stick to our strengths. I did the same. I have enough experience of playing on the Australian soil luckily so that experience helped me and I kept doing what I could do, what I felt was the best for my team."
Pujara added that everybody contributed to the team during the third Test.
"Even when we look at the series, there were players who came and played and most of them played well whenever they had an opportunity," he said.
The 34-year-old batter said that Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were the two best bowlers for Australia in that series.
(ANI inputs)
