Cheteshwar Pujara has been able to bring the consistency level of his performance for Saurashtra to the Indian team, says a report in The Hindu, adding that he has played six Tests so far and has firmly staked claim to take the spot so brilliantly held by Rahul Dravid.
“One can also say that he has faced a decent crop of frontline fast bowlers such as Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Jacques Kallis, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Chris Martin, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, James Franklin, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and has met with success,” says the report adding that injury kept him out of the tours of England and Australia last year and also in the home series against the West Indies.
“But being named the India ‘A’ captain for the West Indies tour was a turning point in his quick return to the national side. He showed the way for several Saurashtra batsmen in the Ranji Trophy. But after being dismissed by Johnson in his first Test innings and then following it up with 72 turned out to be a massive confidence-booster for him. He has learnt a lot of lessons just watching the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Sehwag and Gambhir,” says the report, adding that Pujara has passed the litmus test of sorts in India; he will be put through the wringer when he begins to play more overseas Tests.
According to a report in The Times Of India, spotlight has grown even brighter, ever since Cheteshwar Pujara has “replaced” Dravid in the Indian Test team at the No. 3 slot. Cheteshwar is the son of Arvind Pujara, a clerk in Railways, and a love of cricket runs in the family. Both Arvind Pujara and his brother Bipin played Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra, just like Cheteshwar. It was Pujara Sr, now a coach, who noticed his son’s talent but feared he had a father’s bias. So he took Chintu to his friend, former Test cricketer Karsan Ghavri,” says the report.
“I had seen fire in the boy and it has not dimmed even today. He hates to get out,” Ghavri said on Pujara. His father Arvind said, “He is a level-headed cricketer, disciplined and focused. His mental toughness is behind his success. When he was 13 years old, he scored 300-plus runs in an U-14 tournament against Baroda. At that level of cricket, entire teams don’t score that many.”
In her own way, mother Rina, who died of cancer in 2005, played an important part in Cheteshwar’s upbringing. “She taught me to be true to myself,” Cheteshwar had told TOI, adding: “With honesty, you can achieve anything, she would say. People talk about my discipline, determination and focus today. These values were instilled in me by my mother early on.”
Meanwhile a report in Hindustan Times says that like any other cricket fan in the country, she also loves the game, however, she has never been the sort who would go all out to watch her favourite cricketer in action.
“But on Thursday, all that changed for Pooja Pabari, an MBA from Rajkot. She not only stepped into the Sardar Patel Stadium here to watch the first Test between India and England, but also watched intently as her would-be husband, Cheteshwar Pujara, went from 98 runs on Day One to an unbeaten 206 on the second day,” says the report.
“This is the first time I am watching an international match seated inside a stadium,” said Pooja, who had a front-row seat in the VIP pavilion.
An MBA in retail management, Pooja was engaged to the middle-order batsman at a simple ceremony earlier this month. And, it seems, Pooja has already started bringing lady luck to the Saurashtra cricketer, who not only went past his previous best of 159 runs on Friday but also slammed his first double ton in the longest format of the game.