Pakistan wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan is currently busy with his maiden County stint with Sussex. Rizwan recently opened up on his chat with India’s Test veteran Cheteshwar Pujara, who is also part of the Sussex side.
While Pujara has had a sublime campaign, hitting four centuries on the trot, Rizwan had a couple of humble outings before he scored a half-century against Durham. Mohammad Rizwan shared a 154-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara ending up scoring a double century.
Rizwan has now opened up about sharing the dressing room with Pujara, revealing that he also turned to him for advice. Speaking with Cricwick, Mohammad Rizwan said:
“With Pujara, I had a chat with him after I got out early. He told me a few things and one of them was to play close to the body. And as everyone knows, we have been playing white-ball cricket consistently over the past few years and play a bit away from our body. In white-ball, you don’t play very close to your body since the ball doesn’t swing or seam as much.”
He added:
“So early on here, I played away from my body and got out twice in a similar way. Then I went over to meet him in the nets and I remember him saying that when we play in Asia, we force the ball to play the drive. Here, we don’t need to do that. And we need to play close to the body. I have played white ball cricket consistently. So these are the things which he told me and whatever he learned from me, he can tell [laughs].”
Cheteshwar Pujara’s records in County Championship 2022
Far away from all the glamour of IPL, the Saurashtra-born cricketer is slowly making a case for himself for a national comeback. Having gone 52 first-class innings without a century, Pujara has regained touch since joining the county in the early part of the English summer.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s run of scores for Sussex will be hard to ignore: 6 & 201 not out versus Derbyshire, 109 & 12 versus Worcestershire, 203 versus Durham and 16 & 170 not out versus Middlesex.
India are scheduled to play the rescheduled fifth and final Test match, which was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp, starting July 1. It remains to be seen whether he makes a comeback to the Test for the England series.
Get the latest cricket news here and like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
