Team India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara will join an elite list of players during the second Test against Australia, which will begin on Thursday, February 16 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. He will be playing his 100th Test match for Team India. Ahead of the momentous occasion, teammate Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about the prolific run-scorer.
In an interview with Espncricinfo, Ravichandran Ashwin expressed that Cheteshwar Pujara’s game is an extension of his stubborn personality. He revealed that the batter never concedes a point in an argument. Ashwin also added that Pujara’s stubbornness has helped him to break down even the best bowling attacks in the world. The Indian all-rounder said,
“Puji is one of the greatest at playing percentages against spin. During all these years of knowing him, I have learned that his game is just an extension of his personality. And his personality is stubborn. You just can’t win an argument with him. He never concedes a point.”
“Pat Cummins bowls good ball after good ball, changing the angles, trying a bouncer, trying a sucker ball, but all he gets from Puji is the leave or the dead defence. Actually, I don’t recall thinking Puji had a great defence when I first saw him, but his stubbornness is such that he has broken down the best of the attacks with his defence,” he added.
Mirugam, the beast: Ravichandran Ashwin reveals the nickname he gave Cheteshwar Pujara
Team India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin further expressed Cheteshwar Pujara trusts his methods and doesn’t try to do something different. He revealed that he and former India trainer Shankar Basu used to call the Indian cricketer, ‘Mirugam’, which means the beast. Ashwin said,
“Most batters add to their game when they are successful or cut out some elements when they are failing, but Puji keeps trusting his method. You can’t convince him to change. I used to use a Tamil nickname for him with Shankar Basu, our previous trainer: Mirugam, the beast. Just like a beast focuses single-mindedly on its prey, Puji focuses on batting.”
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