Cheteshwar Pujara Is The Hardest Batsman To Bowl To: Pat Cummins

Updated - 27 Apr 2020, 03:59 PM

Pat Cummins. (Credits: Getty)

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Cheteshwar Pujara has been the bedrock of the Indian Test team ever since he made his debut for the national side against Australia back in 2010.

Cheteshwar Pujara was at his imperious best during India’s historic Test series win Down Under in the 2018 summer. The right-handed batsman from Saurashtra grounded out the famed Australian pace-bowling attack of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc into the dust through his sheer grit, determination, patience and the unrelenting desire to just bat and bat and bat.

Cheteshwar Pujara Is The Hardest Batsman To Bowl To- Pat Cummins — Cheteshwar Pujara (Credits: Getty Images)

And, no wonder why the No.1 ranked fast bowler in the world Pat Cummins has hailed Cheteshwar Pujara as the toughest batsman to bowl to in the current era.

Replying to a Question-Answer session on Instagram, Pat Cummins termed Pujara as a real pain in the back for his bowling group. Alluding to India’s triumphant 2018-19 campaign two summers ago, Cummins said that Indian No.3 was the real rock for the Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue during that four-match series besides hailing him as the hardest to bowl at in the current era.

“There are a lot of them out there, unfortunately. But I am going to go with someone different and he is (Cheteshwar) Pujara from India. He was a real pain in the back for us. He was an absolute rock for them in that series. (He was) Really hard to get out. Just ultra concentration all day, day after the day. He is the hardest one in Test cricket so far I think.” Pat Cummins on Cheteshwar Pujara in the Q-A session on Instagram.

Also Read: Cheteshwar Pujara Plays Me The Best In The Indian Team, Reveals Mohammed Shami

Cheteshwar Pujara grounded Pat Cummins and co to the dust during the 2018-19 series

Coming back to that India-Australia series, all the talks in the lead-up was around captain Virat Kohli. But Pujara’s brilliance caught the home side off-guard and the first example of it was truly visible on the opening day of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval.

After India had been reduced to 4-50 in the first session, Cheteshwar Pujara scripted a patient hundred to snatch the initiative away from Australia in what eventually turned to be a match-winning hundred.

Pujara wasn’t done yet as he racked up two more three-figure scores, including a monumental 193 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and by the time he was dismissed, he’d played more than 1200 deliveries for his 521 runs which came at an average of 74.42.

Also Read: Human Lives Are More Important Than Any Sport, Says Cheteshwar Pujara