Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has expressed that Ranji Trophy helped him to get back his rhythm after he was dropped from the Indian Test team. The right-hander will be making a comeback to the Test team against England in the fifth rescheduled match.
Cheteshwar Pujara was going through an inconsistent run at the International level. He was dropped from the Indian team for the Sri Lanka series at home. Pujara returned to domestic cricket and played the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra. Though he did not have a great season, it helped him to get back in rhythm, expressed Pujara.
The 34-year-old also played County Cricket for Sussex in the meantime. He scored a couple of double centuries and two hundred in seven-innings at an average of 143. Pujara earned a comeback call in the Indian team post his brilliant county stint. Speaking to the BCCI.tv, Cheteshwar Pujara expressed:
“I was preparing for this tour back home. Even when I joined the Sussex team. I played 3 Ranji Trophy games for Saurashtra. I found my rhythm in that series. Knew that I was batting well.”
“When I hit my first 100 in my first game with Sussex, I knew everything was back to normal. I was finding my footwork, my back lift, everything was coming along well. After that, I made sure I enjoyed the game. The most important thing was to have a good time on the field,” he added.
Spending quality time with family ☺️
Getting back into form 👏
Approach for the Test against England 👍DO NOT MISS as @cheteshwar1 discusses it all in this special chat. 👌 👌
Full interview 🎥 🔽 #TeamIndia | #ENGvIND https://t.co/VFA7hoDgdr pic.twitter.com/q71k2CJbQX
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 22, 2022
Rahul Dravid always keeps simple and doesn’t complicate things – Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara has always been compared to the former Indian cricketer and the current head coach of the team, Rahul Dravid. His batting style is very similar to Rahul’s, and also bats at the number three position for India. Speaking about his experience of working alongside Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara said:
“Rahul Bhai has always been an inspiration for me. When I first met him in 2007, he was leading the India team. He came to Rajkot. That was my first interaction with him as a young kid. After that, I have always been in touch, I have learned so many things from him as a cricketer when I was playing with him and even after he retired and coached India A team, he has always been helpful.”
“He always keeps simple, he has great ideas about batting, he doesn’t complicate things. It’s always good to learn from him, it’s always good to work with Rahul Bhai. It’s a good environment to be in, even when we played here in 2021 when Ravi (Shastri) Bhai was around, the way the guys played (was fantastic),” he added.
The Indian team will be playing a four-day warm-up match against Leicestershire starting on June 23 in Leicester. In the match, the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Prasidh Krishna will be playing for Leicestershire. This will serve as a preparation game ahead of the fifth Test match against England next month.
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