Cheteshwar Pujara looking to carry form to New Zealand series

At the end of the West Indies tour, Cheteshwar Pujara was on the receiving end of a considerable amount of flak. However, instead of brooding about the same, the 28-year-old made a wonderful impact in the Duleep Trophy where he was the only player to smash a double-century with the pink ball and under lights as well.

While this has prompted the selectors to go ahead and pick him in the side, Pujara has stated the importance of carrying the form into the upcoming series against New Zealand. Having been given a lifeline by the selectors Pujara went on to enumerate the importance of having a good preparation.

“It was a good preparation for the New Zealand series and I’m looking forward to it,” Pujara said on Wednesday (September 14). “I like to compete and there is always a price on my wicket. I always feel when I’m set, I have to score big runs and help the team.”

Pujara said, “I’ve been playing a lot of cricket since childhood and I have always enjoyed scoring big runs, right from the junior days, and now it has become a habit.”

He also went on to add his enjoyment for playing with the pink ball. “I enjoyed playing the pink ball, but there are challenges, especially under lights when it is hard to pick the googly.”

Even Gautam Gambhir, the skipper of the India Blue side went on to commemorate the importance of Pujara in the side. “I thought when you win the toss and someone gets a 250, it’s fantastic, hopefully, he (Pujara) can carry this form into international cricket,” the Delhi opener said.

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“It’s all about contributing, opening the batting is very important to me. I have always maintained that in a four-day or a five-day game, making a good start is important,” he said the India Blue skipper.

“I think I have always felt that’s the way the game is meant to be played. I have seen captains say in the past that the Duleep Trophy is about individuals. The first day when I came in, I thought the most important thing was to get the unit together and inculcate the culture of winning in the dressing room. There is no better feeling than to lead the team to a win.

Finally, Gambhir went on to talk about the importance of having a winning culture in the dressing room. “The most important culture is winning. It’s always about winning and not about individual performances. There is no better feeling than winning and getting into a dressing room because a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room,” he said.