Australia vs India 2018-19: I Am Really Happy For Cheteshwar Pujara - Anil Kumble
Updated - 08 Jan 2019, 03:01 PM
Anil Kumble, the former India National Cricket team skipper, and head coach shared high praise on Cheteshwar Pujara following his stellar show with the bat in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Meanwhile, Pujara finished as the highest run-getter across both teams in the series with 521 runs including three match-winning hundreds. Pujara started that tour with a magnificent hundred in Adelaide which the set the tone for him in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Losing four wickets early, India were in deep trouble on day one of the first Test. The ever-dependable man from Saurashtra defied all the odds to bail his side out partnering the tailenders. In addition to, Cheteshwar Pujara shared a massive partnership with Ajinkya Rahane in the second essay to help India post a challenging total in the scoreboard. The bowlers did the rest as the visitors took a crucial 1-0 lead.
However, Pujara had a rare failure in Perth which saw Australia level the series, but India bounced back soon, and so did Pujara. He showed enough grit and patience take the skin out of Australian bowlers. Cheteshwar Pujara scored a brilliant hundred in Melbourne as India were back in the winnings ways to gain an unassailable 2-1 lead. He backed it up with another century at the Sydney as he finished the series as the highest run-getter.
Kumble praises Pujara
Anil Kumble in an interview with News18 hailed the one-drop batsman saying that he has been exceptional with the bat. He also noted that he has been very close to what Virat Kohli has done with the bat for India.
“I am really happy for someone like Cheteshwar Pujara because he never got the credit. I mean if you look at all the victories in the last couple of years. Credit should be given to the captain Virat not just for being the captain but also what he has done with the bat. But similarly, Pujara’s contribution has been not close to Virat but as close to Virat as possible. And he has been exceptional as a batsman. Just because he is not flamboyant and he plays only one format of the game, people tend to forget his contribution. And Test cricket is all about doing the boring things repeatedly whether you are a bowler whether you are a batsman.
I think that is what Pujara exemplifies and he has shown that with the technique he has and whatever limitations he may have, he plays within that and he plays it with determination and a lot of patience and then he doesn’t worry about strike rates. I know there are a lot of people still talking about strike rates, hopefully after this performance of Pujara everybody will shut up talking about the strike rates because it is not about the strike rates, it is about getting the runs doing the job for the team, that is exactly what Pujara does,” Kumble concluded.
