India vs England | Stint with Yorkshire will help me get ideas about pitches’ for England Tour, says Pujara
BCCI
Cheteshwar Pujara asserted that his stint with Yorkshire in the County Championship will help him get ideas about the pitches and conditions that India will face during their Tour of England later this year. He also added that there would be no change in the style of play in England and SA.
India lost the Test series 2-1 at the hands of the mighty Proteas as India’s batsmen failed to get accustomed to the conditions of the South African pitches due to the lack of practice games at the start of the tour. To avoid the South African Test debacle again, Cheteshwar Pujara has decided to play for Yorkshire in the County Championship so as to get ideas about the pitches and conditions in which India will play the tour.
"I am looking forward to the county season as we will be playing Test matches in August. I was with Yorkshire in 2015 when we won the County Championship. It's a fantastic team with the good bunch of professionals, which helps me become a better cricketer," said Pujara, reported PTI.
According to Pujara, the most beneficial aspect will be playing county cricket at Test venues of India's tour which will give an idea about pitches and conditions. India
"Look, playing at Headingley in early English summer with temperatures around 4 or 6 degrees will test any batsmen's technique and temperament. Even scoring a 50 is tough. By the time, India tour starts, it will be a bit more pleasant," said the Indian Test specialist.Â
"Now playing Division 1 has its advantages. I will be playing against Middlesex (Lord's), Warwickshire (Birmingham) and Surrey (Oval) in away games, where India will play Test matches. So I will get a fair idea about the pitches and conditions."
Well, the pitch conditions have been almost similar in South Africa as both the countries enjoy pitches that help the fast bowlers with swing and bounce. This means that the batsmen will have to apply a similar tactic to face the bowlers in England that they applied against the South African pace attack. For Pujara, there isn't too much change he has to make to his technique from South Africa to England.
"The basics will remain the same but the primary criteria of doing well is respecting conditions. Technically, it's more or less same.
"I use lighter bats when playing overseas. Also, the kind of fight we put in South Africa will augur well for us in England. Maybe we could have batted a bit better but we were in with a chance in all games," said Pujara.
It was seen in the recent times that the teams touring a country would generally end up losing the Test Series to the hosts. Be it India in South Africa, England in Australia or Australia in India. Every travelling team had been hammered by the home side in the Test series. The 30-year-old cricketer, who has played 57 matches in the longest format, agreed that none of the top Test teams
"England's performance in Ashes will tell you that all top teams are struggling a fair bit in overseas conditions.
"Obviously we will be better prepared but that doesn't mean we can take Moeen or any other English bowler lightly. The best part is we have a fair idea about their core bowling unit," said Pujara.
Wrist spinners have always been difficult to pick up while looking at their wrists alone. An example of this could be seen in the recently concluded ODI series between India and South Africa in which Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ended up picking 33 wickets in the series and helped India claim the series 5-1.
Talking about the South African batsmen not picking Yuzvendra Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav during ODI series, Pujara said, "It will be difficult if you can't pick up the variation from wrists.
"If you can't differentiate Chahal's googly from his flippers, then there's trouble. You have to have an understanding which way the ball would turn."
Pujara did not receive an IPL deal over the past few seasons and he admitted that it has got a lot to do with "public perceptions".
"Perception I would say has played a major role. If you check my performance in List A (average of 58 plus over 88 games) and T20s (strike rate of 105.18 in 58 games), I still have a lot to offer in shorter formats. I am not at all worried as I know my opportunity would come at some point in time," he signed off.
