Australia’s major challenge was Cheteshwar Pujara’s concentration: Justin Langer

For the first time in a rivalry of 71 years, India managed to win an overseas Test series against Australia. 30-year-old Virat Kohli also became the first Asian captain to win a Test series on Australian soil. However, the victory wouldn’t have been possible without Cheteshwar Pujara, the right-handed batsman from Saurashtra, who rightfully went on to bag the Player of the Tournament.

The 30-year-old was arguably the best batsman from either side as he notched 521 runs in seven innings at an average of 74.42 with three centuries and a fifty. He also played the most number of balls (1258), which was almost double than Kohli (684), who was second in terms of balls faced in the series. Even Nathan Lyon, the Aussie off-spinner, asked Pujara whether he gets bored of such knocks.

Recently, Justin Langer, the Australian head coach, also admitted that the hosts had issues in dealing with Pujara’s concentration. “I have never seen a batsman watch the ball as closely as Cheteshwar Pujara does, and that includes Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. His concentration was a challenge for us,” Langer was quoted as saying in a press conference.

An impressive tour for Cheteshwar Puajara

Pujara started the tour with a knock of 123 and 71 at the Adelaide Oval that helped India win the opening Test by 31 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the series. He couldn’t quite deliver in the second Test at the new Perth Stadium and India lost by 137 runs as the home team drew level in the four-match series.

Nevertheless, he came back to score 106 in the first innings of the MCG Test, albeit he couldn’t open his account in the second innings. Nevertheless, he had saved his best for the last match at the SCG where he notched 193 runs to help India rack up 622 in the first innings and take the match out of the Aussies’ radar.

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