Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid have often been compared with each other. The two by nature and playing styles share many similarities. Dravid during his career was never the one that made the headlines and always remained in the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar. Similarly Pujara today scores plenty of runs and does his job but always stays in the shadow of Virat Kohli.

Pujara during his career has often been asked about the influence Dravid as had over his game. The Saurashtra batsman has always lauded Dravid and has maintained that he immensely respects him for his contribution to Indian cricket.

The right-handed batsman recently pointed out that even they have a similar pattern when it comes to batting but he never tries to copy Dravid. The way he plays it comes naturally to him and his experiences while playing for Saurashtra has taught me how to bat. He although acknowledged that Rahul Dravid has always had an influence when it comes to his thought process.

Dravid taught there is life beyond cricket – Pujara

“That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn’t enough, you have to carry your team. Yes, you could say that I subconsciously imbibed that from Rahul Bhai. His influence had shaped my thought process,” Pujara said.

Cheteshwar Pujara once again explained that Dravid will forever remain one of his inspiration. Whenever he has spoken to the former legendary batsman he has given him a lot of clarity and explained to him when to switch off from cricket. Pujara has learned the fact from Dravid that eventually there is more to life than just cricket.

“He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do”.

He added, “I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused on. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket.”

Cheteshwar Pujara further praised Dravid and stated, “I was lucky that I had him around when I started playing cricket. He had already gone through so many things in his journey, so he was able to tell me what I could expect, in a way”.

“He helped me understand when I was young that it is not all about technique. As a young cricketer you might want to focus on technique a lot, but eventually, I realised yes, you need technique, but there are other aspects as well”, Pujara concluded.