Australia vs India: Cheteshwar Pujara thanks his father for his success

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara plays only Test cricket for India and has tasted quite a significant amount of success in the longest format. In 65 matches, the 30-year-old has scored 5099 runs at an average of 50.48 to go with 16 centuries and 20 half-centuries. He has often been slammed for not accelerating after getting set, but that hasn’t flustered him by any means.

Recently, he played a couple of stupendous knocks in the opening Test against Australia at Adelaide Oval. The Saurashtra batsman racked up 123 and 71 respectively to help his team to a victory by 31 runs. He was also adjudged as the Player of the Match. In the meantime, Pujara credited his father, Arvind, also his childhood coach, for helping him grow as a cricketer.

“It [father’s support] means a lot. He [Arvind] is someone who started coaching me when I was eight years old. I’d like to thank him for all his support throughout my career. He will be a proud father at this stage. He believed in my ability more than I do,” Pujara was quoted as saying after bagging the Man of the Match award.

There is always pressure to perform overseas

In the first innings, India lost their first three wickets for 19 runs and even the likes of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant got out after getting their eyes in. However, Pujara put his head down and guided India to a score of 250. Even in the second innings, the experienced campaigner showed an unflustered mindset and scored 71 runs from 204 balls and helped India set a target of 323 for the Aussies to chase down.

Throwing light on how he got himself prepared for the Australian conditions, he said: “The most important thing for me was the preparation when I was back home, I knew what to expect from Australian pitches. Having played some of their bowlers in the past also helped me. [It was one of my top five knocks] because it was special because the way we came back in the game.”

“We lost about four wickets for 40 runs and then to make a comeback and get to 250 was the most important thing. Not really (no pressure on the need to score faster). I back my ability, have enough experience playing for the Indian team. There is always pressure to perform overseas and win Test matches. As a batting unit, I believe we have a lot to improve but we learn from our mistakes,” he added.

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