PUJARA NARRATES HIS STORY OF ‘GRIT’ ESCAPE
‘I WAS STARTING UP AFTER A LONG TIME, ALMOST AFTER EIGHT MONTHS AS THERE WERE NO FIRST CLASS GAMES’
"There are times when strike rate hardly matters. Every batter has a role to play. The team management completely understands that.
"Numbers wise, it may not look like a very, very good series for me but if you look at the pitches, not many runs were scored this time.
It wasn't easy at all in terms of preparation and the Australian team had a thorough game plan for each of us. To get back into rhythm took a little bit of time but luckily all went positive in the end.
"Very difficult to compare both the tours but this one is a tad more special considering we had a weaker team with so many youngsters.
There are times when balls faced matter a lot more than runs scored and the recent tour of Australia was all about that for India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara, who finds the "strike-rate talk" overrated.
Pujara had collected a lot more runs (521 at 41.41 strike rate and three hundreds) in his player of the series perfor mance to ensure a historic triumph in Australia two seasons ago but considering the "extraordinary circumstances" of the recent showdown that just went by, he rates his effort (271 at 29.20 and three half-centuries) equally special.
"Both tours have been fantastic for the team and personally I did well on both tours but the circumstances were completely different. This time I was starting up after a long time, almost eight months (due to COVID-19), there were no first class games also," Pujara told PTI before entering the biobubble for the upcoming home series against England.
The 31-year-old stood like a rock through the series, quite literally in the final Test in Brisbane, where he took multiple blows on the body to keep a relentless Australian attack at bay.
"It wasn't easy at all in terms of preparation and the Australian team had a thorough game plan for each of us. To get back into rhythm took a little bit of time but luckily all went positive in the end.
"Numbers wise, it may not look like a very, very good series for me but if you look at the pitches, not many runs were scored this time. It was more challenging than last time without a doubt." The 81-Test veteran said the balls faced, 928 to 1258 two years ago, mattered more than runs scored, given the challenging pace attack, nature of pitches and barrage of injuries that the Indian team suffered through the four games.
"Very difficult to compare both the tours but this one is a tad more special considering we had a weaker team with so many youngsters. But I wouldn't say this is the only best series I have been a part of.
"Even the last series in Australia was tough and the home series too in 2017-18 was among the toughest I have been a part of."