India's Mr. Dependable, Cheteshwar Pujara, frustated the Australian bowlers yet again during India's tour to Australia that concluded earlier this month. He was the only batsman in the series from both teams, who played more than 900 deliveries over the four Test matches.
While he defended the Australian pacers until they bowled loose deliveries, he was much more aggressive against their premier spinner, Nathan Lyon. Pujara's batting against the off-spinner was one of the highlight during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19 as well and it has continued to be so.
The Saurashtra batsman has now revealed that the most successful Indian Test bowler, Anil Kumble helped him play better against Lyon as the duo was constantly in touch during the series.
Cheteshwar Pujara told Sports Today, "I also got a text from Anil bhai (Kumble) because I was in touch with him. He told me 'you have to play in a certain manner'. The gameplan which he told me in 2017 has been helping me play well against Nathan Lyon."
Pujara scored only 271 runs off 928 deliveries in the series at a strike rate less than 30. It was mainly because of the baggage he carried in his mind and the extra pressure he took upon himself to score runs while the other batsmen around him weren't consistent. But in the end, it all paid off with a memorable series win.
The 33-year-old said, "I trusted my preparation but at the same time, there was a lot of pressure which didn't help. So I told myself that I have to do something. There were so many things which I had to process in my head, which I did. I spoke to the batting coach, spoke to Ravi bhai (Shastri)."
"Most of the feedback that I got was positive, I was batting well and just had to continue the way I had been batting without any baggage in my head," he added.
(With inputs from Sports Today)
