Australia vs India 2018-19: How Cheteshwar Pujara Preprared for Down Under?

Cheteshwar Pujara has been the real difference between the batting sides of India and Australia. The ever-dependent Pujara has amassed 521 runs in the ongoing series, which is the most by any batsman. In fact, he has faced 1258 balls to tire down the Australian bowlers. The hosts have not been able to find the code to breach Cheteshwar Pujara.

In fact, Pujara defence has looked unbreakable as the Australian bowlers have failed to go through it. It is like the host’s bowlers have been throwing down their balls to a WALL. Meanwhile, Pujara has always been the one who has worked hard on his game. He had a see-saw England tour where he scored one hundred, but Australia has been a completely different story altogether.

Pujara has been the difference.

Pujara’s Saurashtra teammate Sheldon Jackson revealed that the talisman prepared by asking the bowlers to throwdown by hard plastic balls, which extract more bounce.

“He (Pujara) prepares differently like according to the wicket what shots to play and what not to play. Before going to Australia, he was playing Ranji Trophy and I saw him practising with heavy plastic balls which were thrown with a robo-arm. That ball bounces much more than a cricket ball and is even quicker off the wicket,” Pujara’s Saurashtra teammate Sheldon Jackson told CricketNext.

Pujara’s former teammate and now Saurashtra’s coach Sitanshu Kotak also praised India’s number three for preparing according to conditions.

“He has played a lot of cricket and knows very well how to prepare for different conditions. He played one Ranji Trophy match with a stiff neck. His strength is temperament and determination, ability to occupy the crease — which matters a lot on the result-oriented wicket. He makes minor adjustments he knows what shots to play and what to avoid depending on different situations,” Kotak said.

Kotak went on to add that the best time to score runs in overseas conditions is when a team can see off the new ball. Thus, Pujara helps the team in getting to that situation.

“Easier time to score on wickets abroad is between 25-30 overs to 80 overs, but you need to survive till that time, that’s why he is so essential for the team. People who can play our bowlers bowling good spells and blunts the new balls, that’s the role Pujara can play. For Test matches, he is doing what is needed, I don’t think he will change in the future as well, people will regret talking against him in the future,” Kotak felt.

Kotak said it is not easy to have a higher strike rate in the overseas conditions. Pujara plays orthodox Test cricket and it is pivotal for his success that he remains authentic to his natural game.

“On Indian wickets where there is not much for fast bowlers, then you can talk about strike-rate but on fast and bouncy wickets outside the country, you need people to stay in the middle to score totals like 400-450. In Test cricket, you can’t expect everyone to play with high strike-rate to tire out the bowlers, I feel that is exactly what he is doing now and he did in England”.

Cheteshwar Pujara has had a breakout series Down Under. He has been the major difference between the two sides and has proved his mettle.