Former India player and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has applauded Team India’s veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, stating that India’s Test specialist reminds him of former South Africa opener Hashim Amla. He also added that a player with his temperament is ‘terrific’ for the Indian team as well.
However, Pujara was going through a rough patch but recently he scored a half-century in India’s second innings of the second Test. He smashed 53 off 86 deliveries, adding a solid 111-run stand for the third wicket with former Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane on a tough Wanderers pitch.
But, despite Pujara’s knock, India failed to bundle the South African batters and they eventually won and levelled the series 1-1 with one game in hand.
Their win came on the back of the skipper Dean Elgar, who led the team from the front and added crucial partnerships to lead the team to a win on Thursday as well.
“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,” Sunil Gavaskar said in a conversation with SuperSport. “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,” he added.
“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 Pujara’s temperament in the changing room must be absolutely terrific because 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,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.
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