The last year was a tough one for Cheteshwar Pujara. From being Team India’s rock at No. 3 in Test matches, since his debut in 2010, he struggled to feature in the Playing XI after relatively quiet tours of England and Australia. In Sri Lanka, with India losing both their opening batsmen – Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan – to injury ahead of the third Test, Pujara was asked to open the batting. He responded with a typical gutsy and solid knock of 145, carrying his bat. India won the match and the series.
Now, with the Test series against South Africa looming, the top-order batsman is eyeing crucial preparation with the warm-up match for the Board President’s XI, against the South Africans. And he is mentally readying himself to bat at any position the team asks him to.
“I will be ready to play at any position the team wants me to. Once we gather as a team I will have a chat with the captain and the coach and they will let me know where they want me to bat. I will be prepared to bat anywhere,” Pujara said.
“I have mostly batted at No. 3, which is, at times, as good as opening the batting. There is not a huge difference but there is still a difference, in that you have to face the new ball from the first ball onwards. When you’re batting at 3, if the openers build a decent partnership, you have time on your hand and you can be relaxed for a while, have a look at the wicket and the bowlers. I am quite used to facing the new ball and in that way I am comfortable batting at the top of the order.”
Pujara is coming off a quiet start to the Ranji Trophy season – in three matches for Saurashtra his highest score is 27. However, the string of low scores doesn’t bother him going into the Test series.
“I am very confident. The kind of wickets we have played on in the Ranji Trophy so far have been difficult for the batsmen and the fast bowlers.
If I haven’t scored big runs on such wickets, I would not say I am out of form because the conditions were such that batsmen from both teams didn’t score big runs. Low scores in those games will not put me under any pressure or affect my preparation. I know what I will be facing in the Test series and with the kind of experience I have, I am very confident that I will do well.”
What is crucial according to him is the two-day practice game at CCI. He is the captain of the Board President’s XI team and he looks forward to having some practice of facing the South African bowlers before getting into the Tests.
“Any game that comes ahead of such big Test series is very important. It gives the right kind of preparation that you want before the series. Most importantly, you get to play against the same bowlers you will face in the Tests and that is a good thing,” Pujara said.
