I Would Like To Play T20 And ODI Cricket As Well: Cheteshwar Pujara

If there is a quintessential Test batsman of the present era, it would indeed be Cheteshwar Pujara. The right-handed batsman would return to the fold ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand and loves the longest format; however, didn’t rule out his preference of playing ODI and T20 cricket as well.

He played his last Test against Bangladesh in November. The Saurashtra batsman isn’t known for playing the slam bang form of cricket and hence doesn’t get the nod for limited-overs. Pujara has featured in only five ODIs since his debut in 2010 for India. But one cannot forget the unprecedented hand he played in India’s first ever Test series victory in Australia in 2019.

When asked Pujara about his desire to play white-ball cricket for the national side, he didn’t rule it out and said he would like to play it. He further said that his journey to success at the international level stems from the success at the U14 level for Saurashtra when he used to make it a habit to play long innings regularly. From U14, it also went on to continue when he played for the U19 Ranji team as well.

“Yes, I would like to play T20 and ODI cricket as well. But yes when you’re playing just one format, you put in a lot of hard work, you put in a lot of effort to be successful in that format. This comes from my junior days. Playing long innings and concentrating for hours and hours. It started when I started playing U14 cricket for Saurashtra. In my very first game, I was able to score a triple hundred. That is when I created the habit of playing long innings. That is when my journey started.”

“So I feel if you create that habit for over a period of time then you always become successful even at the international level. When I was playing Ranji Trophy or U19, if I recollect all of those innings, if I recollect all the journey then I understand that why I am successful at the international level now.” Pujara said as quoted by India Today.

Cheteshwar Pujara is a diehard fan of Test cricket:

Despite believing that limited-overs cricket being the future due to the dying art of batting patiently, the 31-year old named the longest format his most favourite version in cricket. He also said that there could be very few people in the world being avid fans of the most traditional format and he is among those.

“First of all, I do agree (On the dying art of defensive Test batting) because when I look at the modern-day youngsters, all of them want to play shots. And yes the future is obviously T20 and ODI cricket. But at the same time, I think there are still diehard Test fans and I am one of those. I always love playing Test cricket at the same time.” he added further.