Cheteshwar Pujara: I have reached here as my dad coached me since age 8
India's Cheteshwar Pujara plays a shot against Sri Lanka during first Test in Galle on Friday. Pic/PTI
After off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, it is the turn of Cheteshwar Pujara to play his 50th Test match for India. The Saurashtra batsman will walk out for his landmark Test on Thursday when India take on Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC).
Speaking to the media here yesterday a day after India beat the hosts in the opening Test inside four days, Pujara attributed his success to his father Arvind, who is back home in Rajkot. "He has been my best critic. I would like to thank him. I have reached this stage because he coached me since I was eight. He was very critical of my batting, but now we have come to an understanding where he always speaks and then we come to a conclusion. He is not strict anymore," said India's one-drop batsman.
It all started at the Babu Jagjivan Ram Institute of Railways ground in Rajkot where Pujara Sr used to take his young son for batting practice.
Pujara, who made his debut against Australia at Bangalore during the 2010-11 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, is 34 runs short of the 4000-run mark and could well get there at the SSC this week. Doubtless, he would like to help himself to another century like he did in Galle where India won by a massive 304-run margin. "It has been a wonderful journey so far. Playing my 50th Test match for the country will be a proud moment for me. Yes, there have been ups and downs, but looking at my recent (good) form, I will be keen to score some runs in my 50th Test," he said.
Yesterday, he even recalled the challenging times. Like the year 2009, when as a Kolkata Knight Riders player, he suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury on his left knee during the second Indian Premier League (IPL) season in South Africa and then on the right knee as a Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 edition of the glamourous Twenty20 event.
"That (2009) was one of the most challenging times of my career. I was out for six months with the first knee injury and I got injured again in 2011. It took six months again, so overall, I was unable to play cricket for a year which was really tough for me," he said.
"Once you get injured, you need to start scoring runs again, you need to get that rhythm again as your concentration goes down. Injures were the toughest part of my career, but now I have come out of it and working really hard on my fitness so that I don't catch any more of them. You can't guarantee anything, but as long as you work hard on your fitness, the chances of getting injured are less," he added.
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