Nathan Lyon Reckons Cheteshwar Pujara As The 'New Wall' In International Cricket

Australia’s legendary off-spinner Nathan Lyon has heaped praise on Cheteshwar Pujara saying that he is the new wall in modern-day cricket. It is notable that former Indian legend, Rahul Dravid was termed as the ‘Wall’ in world cricket during his stint at the crease because of his solidity and composure while batting against the toughest of opponents on the international stage

Like his predecessor, Pujara too has emerged as a rock-solid batsman in world cricket. He is a patient customer on the show and is class-apart from his contemporaries in the game. What sets Pujara apart from other batsmen in modern-day cricket is the fact that he plays only one format, i.e. Test cricket. Here, maintaining consistency is the biggest challenge as a player isn’t used to playing regular cricket at the international level.

However, Pujara has defied the odds time and again and proved that he could definitely excel in world cricket even after playing only a single format. Nathan Lyon is also a fan of Pujara’s class and has heaped praise on the batsman.

Nathan Lyon Names Pujara As The New Wall In World Cricket

“I think Pujara flies under the radar a little bit when you look at the Indian side. Obviously you look at Rahane and Virat and these guys. But Pujara is a wall. He’s the new wall I should say. It helps that he played exceptionally well last time out here. He adapted his game. He had a bit of luck which is what you need when you’re playing at the top level,” Lyon said.

“He obviously played his absolute backside off, which for India was good to see but we’re going to have to make sure that come this summer we have to come with some new plans to combat Pujara. As I said, he flies under the radar a little bit – he definitely won’t be flying under the radar come this summer,” the off-spinner added.

Cheteshwar Pujara Gave A Tough Time To Australia

Cheteshwar Pujara became a headache for the Australians in India’s first Test victory against the Kangaroos at their home soil in 2018. Nathan Lyon is indeed extremely correct naming Pujara as the ‘New Wall’ as he played a whopping 1259 balls in the seven innings of the 4 Test matches that he batted in.

Pujara also scored a total of 521 runs in his seven innings at a jaw-dropping average of 74.43 in the Test series against Australia in 2018. He smashed three brilliant hundreds and a half-century in the process ending the series as the highest run-scorer in the series for the Men in Blue.

Also Read: Why Tim Paine Should Continue As Australia Test Captain, Explains Nathan Lyon