I Can't Be A David Warner Or Virender Sehwag: Cheteshwar Pujara
While Cheteshwar Pujara has established himself as one of the premier Test batsmen in the world, he has never really managed to evade the criticism that comes his way every now and then because of his strike-rate. Strike-rate is not of that much importance in Test cricket but the India star plays at such a pace that it draws criticism every now and then.
It has been nearly a decade since he started playing for India but the criticism has never really left him. However, Cheteshwar Pujara finds the constant fuss over his strike rate a tad unfair. Time and again, he has made it clear that the criticism over his strike-rate doesn’t bother him.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s strike-rate has become the talk of the town once again after his performance in the Ranji Trophy final. He scored 66 crucial runs for Saurashtra in the first innings but ended up facing 237 balls for the same. But his strike-rate made little difference as his knock played a big role in Saurashtra’s triumph over Bengal.
And the India Test star has once again clarified that he has got full backing of the team management which understands the “importance” of his style of play. He also made it clear that he cannot be Virender Sehwag or David Warner
“I don’t think there is too much talk (on the inside). In media, it is described differently but the team management has been backing me on this completely. There is no pressure from the captain, coach or anyone else,” Cheteshwar Pujara told PTI.
“I just want to clarify that when it comes to strike rate people start pointing towards team management’s take on it but there is no pressure on me at all. The team management understands my style of play and its importance.”
He further spoke about his knock in the Ranji Trophy final. Cheteshwar Pujara insisted that instead of focusing on the strike-rate, he focuses on how to make the team win the games.
“The question that was asked on social media (during Ranji final) was ‘why am I taking so long to score X number of runs’? Whether I pay attention to that, no, I don’t. My job is to make sure that the team wins at all times.
“People have this tendency to pinpoint one person but it is just not about me. If you look at any Test series where I have scored runs and taken little bit of time, the opposition batsmen, most of them, have consumed same number of balls.
“I know I can’t be a David Warner or Virender Sehwag but if a normal batsman takes time there is nothing wrong in that,” said the soft-spoke player.
