Cheteshwar Pujara's Wicket Will Be Massive For Us: Joe Root
Published - 04 Feb 2021, 05:28 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:40 AM
England skipper Joe Root has reckoned that an early wicket Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket in the upcoming Test series against India will be very crucial for the visitors’ fortunes.
Cheteshwar Pujara is coming off a brilliant outing in Australia where he showed immense guts, mental fortitude, and character to help India script a memorable Test series win Down Under.
His average of 33 might not reflect what Pujara did in Australia but those who saw the Indian No.3 bat, would agree that it was him that held the Indian batting together against a relentless Australian pace-attack.
Pujara might not have scored a Test hundred since his 193 against Australia at the SCG in January 2019, but he has notched up several half-centuries within the said time frame.
In 62 innings, Pujara has scored 3395 runs at an average of 60.62 which includes 17 50s and 10 hundred.
And, England has witnessed what Cheteshwar Pujara can do from close quarters. Since 2010, Pujara is the second-highest run-scorer against England on home soil.
In 15 innings, he has racked up 839 runs at an average of 64.53 which includes 1 fifty and 4 hundred.
Root, who has watched Pujara from close quarters as an opposition player and as his fellow teammate at Yorkshire, heaped high praise on the Indian No.3 ahead of the Test series.
“I think he is a fantastic player. I had the pleasure of playing alongside him at Yorkshire. To learn from him, speak to him about batting and his love of the game, it was very interesting. So, having played against him as well, on the wrong end of him making some huge scores and been out there for long periods of time, you know, you learn from those kind of innings, and you see the importance that he adds to the Indian team, and he is going to be a huge wicket for us. There is no doubt about that. It is going to be a great challenge to come up against him,” Root said on the eve of the first Test.
