Cheteshwar Pujara's Game Has Gone To Another Level, Says Virat Kohli

India captain has lauded Cheteshwar Pujara, calling him one of the best batsmen of the team.

Pujara has been one of India’s most consistent performers in the last one year or so. One of the lynchpins of India’s Test team, Pujara enjoyed a highly successful home season which consisted of as many as 13 Tests. He finished the mammoth 2016-17 home season as India’s highest run-getter, amassing a staggering 1316 runs which included four hundreds and eight half-centuries. His form played an integral part in India’s series wins over New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia at home.

And the right-handed batsman has continued his form in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka too. After scoring a sublime 153 in the series-opener at Galle, he scored 133 in the second Test at Colombo which India won by an innings and 53 on Sunday (August 6). India were in a precarious position after being reduced to 133 for 3 but Pujara along with Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 132, set the platform for a big total by adding 217 runs for the fourth wicket. India went on to post a mammoth 622 for 9 (declared).

“Pujara and Ajinkya are our two best Test batsmen, especially in the middle order. They’ve been doing so well consistently. Pujara, I would give him more credit because he only plays one format for India. And to be able to have that hunger and passion day in day out, working hard on his game, coming out and having those consistent performances takes a lot of mental strength,” Kohli said at the post-match conference.

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Cheteshwar Pujara's Game Has Gone To Another Level, Says Virat Kohli

“And he’s a guy with a lot of mental strength. He obviously has the game. He knows how to score runs, which is the most important thing. He has evolved massively as a cricketer since then.

“All of us have, but Pujara’s game has gone to another level. If you see last season, continuing now, he’s got about 1500 runs which is outstanding. All credit goes to how hard he works on the game, and how he thinks about his game as well,” he added.

 

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