‘Seven runs don’t matter much’- Cheteshwar Pujara’s father after son’s 193 in Sydney

Back in August during India’s opening Test against England, Cheteshwar Pujara wasn’t included in the playing eleven and he wasn’t a regular fixture in the national team. However, he turned his fortunes around in the four-match Test series against Australia where he scored over 500 runs and became the leading run-scorer of the series. In the red-ball fixtures, he notched three centuries.

Nevertheless, his best of the lot came in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) where he scored 193 runs in the first innings. But prior to the game, he wasn’t in the greatest of shapes psychologically as his father was about to undergo a heart surgery. Nonetheless, he was mentally tough enough to focus on his batting and was relieved after the procedure was completed.

It was not easy to sleep and my body was tired

“Firstly, I was assured by our family doctors before the Test that he would be okay. He needed the procedure because his heart rate was fluctuating. Dr Patil, who carried out the procedure, was in touch with me and told me to not worry. I was communicating with my wife, Puja, who was travelling with my father, regularly. I knew he was in the right hands and I could focus on the Test match.

The surgery was on January 3, the first day of the Sydney Test. Although it was playing on the back of my mind, I am someone who is really mentally tough, so I could focus on my batting. It was not easy to sleep. My body was tired,” Pujara was quoted as saying in Cricket Monthly.

“Mentally, I was relaxed because my father’s procedure was done. But I still had to bat well on day two because it was important to build on the start. I had to bat them out of the Test match – that was my goal and that is exactly what happened,” he remarked.

Pujara was unlucky to have missed out on the double-century as he gave a simple caught and bowled chance to off-spinner Nathan Lyon. His knock was laced with 22 fours and India ended up scoring 622 for seven declared in the first innings. It didn’t bother his father by any stretch of the imagination as he felt that Pujara had done his job of getting his team in a commanding position.

“Later that evening my dad told me that the double-hundred was just a number ‘You’ve done the job for the team. Don’t be sad. Seven runs does not mean much, but the job you have done for the team means a lot’. He is a special person in my life,” he added.

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