Cheteshwar Pujara reminds me of Hashim Amla, it's a blessing to have him: Sunil Gavaskar

Veteran Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara has been at the receiving end of heavy criticism lately. Having scored his last Test ton back in January 2019, the right-handed batter has endured a mediocre run in recent years. However, he has still managed to play some crucial knocks every now and then. Pujara even showcased his caliber in the recently-concluded second Test against South Africa, scoring 53 on a challenging Johannesburg track.

He added 111 runs with another under-fire batter, Ajinkya Rahane, as India set a 240-run target for South Africa, which the hosts achieved with seven wickets in hand. While the visitors didn’t get the favourable result, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar is mighty impressed with Pujara’s stellar show. He even compared Pujara to South African batting great Hashim Amla.

Having Cheteshwar Pujara in the dressing room must be absolutely terrific: Sunil Gavaskar

“When I look at him, he reminds me of Hashim. Watching Hashim bat, you know there’s a sense of calm that everything is under control. The ball could be doing things but there was that sense because even on pitches where the ball was turning, the way Hashim was batting in India, it was almost as if, ‘look, nothing’s happening’, and that’s the same thing with Cheteshwar Pujara,” said Gavaskar on SuperSport

Gavaskar further insisted that having a player of Pujara’s temperament is “absolutely terrific” for the dressing room. “It is a great, great blessing to have players of this temperament in your dressing room. (It may not be) necessarily just on the field but it’s a huge plus and I think having somebody with Cheteshwar Puajra’s temperament in the changing room must be absolutely terrific,” asserted Gavaskar.

“In international cricket, there are several moments of tension where people would want to do this or that or the other. When you have somebody who’s going to think about it calmly and give you a measured opinion it makes a big difference,” he added.

Meanwhile, the ongoing three-match series is perfectly poised at 1-1. Hence, the third and final game, which takes place at the Newlands in Cape Town, will be the decider.