‘Ranji, Sussex stints helped regain form’

KOLKATA: Cheteshwar Pujara has had a torrid time of late, missing out on a berth in the home Test series against Sri Lanka but he is confident of making a contribution as India gear up to play a one-off Test against England next week.

During his time away from the national team, Pujara worked on his batting in firstclass matches both in India and England.

Of the two fifties he had hit for Saurashra in the Ranji Trophy, Pujara was particularly aggressive during an 83-ball 91 against finalists Mumbai.

Playing for Sussex in the English County circuit, Pujara scored four centuries in five matches, two of them double hundreds.

“It’s about playing as many first-class games as possible and that experience was very important,” said Pujara in an interview to bcci.tv. “When you want to get back into form, you want to find your rhythm, our concentration, it’s important to have some long innings. Playing for Sussex I could do that. Once I had the first big knock against Derby (201*), I felt my rhythm was back, my concentration, everything started falling into place.

Pujara said he was preparing for this one-off Test even before he had joined Sussex. “In the three games I played for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy, I found my rhythm, knew that I was batting well. It was about getting a big score under my belt and so when I had that in my first game, I knew that everything is back to normal now. (I was) finding my footwork, my back lift was coming along well.

“After that I just wanted to enjoy my game and contribute to the team’s success. The most important thing is to have a good time on the field. I love this game, enjoy playing cricket, so whenever I am on the field I want to try and make the most of it,” he said.