The veteran Indian wicket-keeper batter, Dinesh Karthik reckons that Cheteshwar Pujara’s hundred against Bangladesh on Friday has given him a stronghold in the current Indian squad. Pujara ended a nearly ending his four-year century drought as he played a lot of impressive shots on his way to his 19th century in Tests in Chattogram to help India give Bangladesh a winning target of 513.
The good thing about Cheteshwar Pujara’s innings was that he started to accelerate after his fifty and scored at a brisk pace. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik said that he was impressed to see Pujara do this and said it came from the confidence that he got while playing for Sussex in England. The 37-year-old said that the middle-order batter is in witnessing a purple patch at the moment and it is a good thing for the Indian Test team.
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Explaining the same, Dinesh Karthik said, “We’re all used to him batting at a certain tempo which is obviously not very high in terms of strike-rate. He is generally known to absorb pressure by blocking out a lot of the balls. It is good to see him come out and do what he has done. I think a lot of this comes from the confidence he has got while playing for Sussex. He led Sussex recently in England. He decided to play County cricket there, ODI tournament there.”
He further added, “We saw a tidbit of videos here and there and social media where he was playing the scoop, the lofted shot. He didn’t employ those kinds of shots but he made sure that he got a hundred, which had been eluding him for some time now. That should calm him a lot before the big series that is coming up. I think the way that he has batted in both innings shows that he is in good knick and that is good for the Indian Test cricket team right now.”
Dinesh Karthik further commented that Pujara’s performance in the opening Test has given him a stronghold in the current Indian setup. The Indian wicketkeeper also praises Pujara and opined that the latter looks like the kind of No.3 India would want at the moment.
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Elaborating the same, Dinesh Karthik said, “I think it has given him a stronghold in the current Indian team and the current setup right now. It is very hard in Indian cricket to predict one year, or two years down the line. If things don’t go well in one series, then it looks very different to what it is. But for the moment, he looks like a solid No.3. The No.3 that India would want. The No.3 India is used to and Pujara and the fact that he brings his defensive skills consistently to the table is something India will be happy about.”
