The third India-Australia Test match in Indore was one to forget for the hosts as the visitors made a strong comeback after losing the first two games. India suffered an embarrassing 9-wicket defeat at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
The first time I bowled competitively to Cheteshwar Pujara was in the Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament in 2008-09. I took five wickets but he scored a hundred.
The first thing about him was how quick he was on his feet. The moment you tossed it up a little, he’d step out and get to the pitch of the ball. He wouldn’t hit it in the air. If he wanted to make runs – he’d still hit it along the ground, but ferociously. Puji is one of the greatest at playing percentages against spin.
During all these years of knowing him, I have learnt that his game is just an extension of his personality. And his personality is stubborn. You just can’t win an argument with him. He never concedes a point. I enjoy seeing his stubborn side, so I try to lead him into arguments while others around say, “Ash, you know you are not going to win.”
M Vijay, according to me the greatest opener for India outside of Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag, and Puji are quite similar in that they haven’t been celebrated enough. They also had some of the most hilarious arguments. They used to do the most difficult job in Test cricket – play out the new ball in testing conditions, as we tend to need to do whenever we go abroad – so it is par for the course to have a few eccentricities emerge from that kind of partnership.
While it was a Test match that India will soon want to brush off and not remember, there was one memorable moment that cheered the spirits among Indian fans. In the post-match presentation, Cheteshwar Pujara was awarded the prize for hitting the biggest six in the game.
On seeing Pujara walk up to pick up the prize, Rajasthan Royals trolled star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. RR posted a screenshot of Ashwin’s old comment, where he said that he will shave his half moustache and come to play if Pujara ever goes down the track and hits a spinner. Ashwin had made the comment after Pujara starred in India’s Test series victory on Australian soil in 2021.
“Better late than never, right @ashwinravi99 ?, ” Royals captioned their tweet.
“Work-in-progress. I’m trying to convince him that at least once go over the top. He is still not convinced; He is giving me great reasons,” Ashwin had said on his Youtube channel in a conversation with India’s batting coach in 2021.
“If he goes over the top against Moeen Ali or any other spinner stepping down the wicket in this English series that we gonna play, I will take half my moustache out and come to play the game. This is an open challenge,” he added.
Pujara played the 100th Test of his career earlier in this series and scored the winning runs in his milestone Test at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. While the Indian batting unit failed in Indore, Pujara was the lone shining light with an impressive half-century in the second innings.
Read Also:- Sushant Mehta Wiki, Age, Family, Wife, Height & More