Sourav Ganguly : Cheteshwar Pujara is as important to Test team as Virat Kohli
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Sourav Ganguly has heaped praise on Cheteshwar Pujara as he emphasized the importance of Pujara’s role and stated that he is as important to the current Test team as Virat Kohli. Sharing the same stage with Ganguly, Pujara has also admitted that he still prefers to bat in the old-school fashion.
While Virat Kohli has been enjoying a stellar run of form lately and seemed to have carried the Indian batting on his own, Cheteshwar Pujara - one of the most underrated No.3 batsmen in the world at the moment - has also contributed immensely to India’s success in the last some years. More or so, he has donned the role of a serial run accumulator and as a result, other batsmen like Kohli and Murali Vijay have been able to pile on the runs. Highlighting that aspect of Pujara's game, Ganguly stated that his role is as important in the team as the Indian skipper.
“Along with Virat Kohli in this team, Pujara’s record is as good as anybody. He’s from that old school of cricket where he will grind you, and win you matches but he goes unnoticed,” Ganguly said as quoted by PTI.
“The best team had the best number three. When India played at its best the best number three was (Rahul) Dravid. When India played at its best away, it’s Pujara at number three.
“They actually take the shine off the new ball, allow the
Given the fact that Pujara was ignored for the upcoming IPL, he decided to use the opportunity and time to make himself ready for the future England series and hone his skills at Yorkshire in what was his second county stint. Pujara was also present at the same function with Ganguly and stated that he still prefers to play in the old school.
“I still prefer to play in the old school, spend a lot of time at the crease, read the
“Once you assess the conditions, you know what the bowlers are up to and you are in a different zone. I don’t need to worry about playing shots it comes naturally.”
While his cricket is more old-fashioned, the Saurashtra batsman has stated that he’s trying out playing lofted shots to meet the demands of the limited-overs cricket when he turns up for his home state Saurashtra in the domestic season.
“Obviously not for Tests, but when I
“To get myself better in one-dayers and T20s, I also started playing lofted shots. Before five-six years, I never used to play any lofted shots. I’ve been working in that in the
