Cheteshwar Pujara is a quintessential professional, claims Ravi Shastri

The Indian cricket team has been in terrific form over the start of the 2019 season as they managed to register back-to-back series wins against Australia and New Zealand in January. Last month, Virat Kohli & Co. led India to their first-ever win a Test series against the Aussies away from home as they beat the hosts’ by a margin of 2-1.

India head coach, Ravi Shastri, has credited experienced Test cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara for the win as he spoke about the professional aspect of Pujara’s character. Pujara was adjudged as man of the series in the win against Australia after he scored a mammoth 521 runs.

"He was in awesome form in Australia. That guy is a quintessential professional, but there are times in everyone's careers when people go through speed breakers. And he was going through one. During that county stint he hardly got a run. Then, when we saw him at (nets in) Birmingham, there was a problem, which we told him to address. We gave him a week to address it. It would have been very easy for me to play him in that Test match after having told him that problem. But as a coach, I take the responsibility, and I said, rather than play, you work on it and address that problem. He did and the rest is history.

"In Nottingham, he got 72 runs and he asked me after batting in the nets the next day (about that problem), and I said you are going to get on a roll where in the next 6-7 Tests, you will get 3-4 hundreds. He has gone and done exactly that. I told him after the Australia series in Sydney, when he won man of the series, you took me damn seriously. I meant it, but you have taken it to a new level!" Shastri told Cricbuzz in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, the former India captain also spoke about youngster Jasprit Bumrah’s emergence as one of the most promising pacers in the longer format of the game in the last year. Since making his debut in 2018 against South Africa, Bumrah has taken a total of 49 wickets from just 10 Test matches.

"He didn't surprise us, only the media. Back in October 2017, I had a chat with MSK Prasad. I told him this is the guy and Prasad was on our page. It is important for selectors to be on the same page (as the team management). I said we would not unleash him in India but in the first Test in South Africa. So people thought he played in Cape Town because Ishant got injured but that's not the case. He was the first name on the list.

"And it's just his belief. More than anything it is the desire he had as an individual to play Test cricket. He wanted to play Test cricket more than any other format of the game," Shastri added.