One of India’s greatest match winners in the longer formats of the game, Cheteshwar Pujara, has been out of the Indian test set-up for quite a while now. The veteran was last seen playing for India in the ICC World Test Championship final.
Even after getting dropped, Cheteshwar Pujara continues to pile up runs at the domestic level. As players like Shreyas Iyer and Shubhman Gill haven’t sealed their spots in the test matches for India, an outside chance is still left for Pujara to make a comeback in the test team.
Pujara has represented India in 103 test matches and is already 36. Making a comeback in international cricket seems a bit tough, but amidst all the challenges, Pujara is motivated to make a comeback for the Indian team.
In a recent interview, Pujara was asked about his preparation for the ongoing Ranji season, to which he replied that he had played a match in Mumbai against the likes of Shams Mulani, Sandeep Sharma, and Dhawal Kulkarni. Pujara’s team was quite weak against the opposition, so he wanted to put his best foot forward.
Pujara said that he follows the same routine and process whether he plays for his state, Saurashtra, or for team India. He definitely wants his state team to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.
Pujara has been in a magnificent touch in the ongoing Ranji season, as he has already scored 673 runs at an average of 74.77.
On being asked about his comeback with the Indian team, Pujara said that he is confident of making a strong comeback as he has been consistently working on his fitness, has been working on his sweep and reverse sweep shots, and has added a few more aerial shots to his armor to counter the bowlers in the opposition.
When being asked about having seen his peak in international cricket, does it seem tough for Pujara?
Pujara answered the question by saying that the peak for every cricketer keeps coming and going.
Players just have to work on their game to continue growing. Pujara also shared some insights about his practice, saying that he has been working constantly on shots like sweep and reverse sweep just to get another option for scoring runs. He said that when a player plays over 100 test matches and scores over 10,000 runs, he’s bound to get dismissed. That’s the time when these kinds of unorthodox shots come into play.
On being inquired about the age factor, Pujara said that the age factor is no longer a barrier in international cricket as the players are getting fitter day by day. Pujara also gave the example of England’s pace bowler, James Anderson, who’s been England’s best bowler even at the age of 41. Pujara further went on to say that the age of the players who are just playing one format is no longer a barrier for them, as they have to just maintain their fitness to survive in international cricket.
On being asked about pujara innings building nature,he said that his style of playing the game is always based on the condition. He further gave the example that if he bats on good batting wickets, he scores at a brisk pace and doesn’t take much time to reach milestones.
Pujara further stated that England have completely changed the dynamics of cricket, but he plays according to his strengths, and that is how he has helped the team over the years.
