The veteran Indian cricketer, Cheteshwar Pujara has always known for his mindset as he has often been seen producing some colossal innings in his Test career. In India’s Test series versus Australia on December-January 2018, MSK Prasad, the national chief selector, hailed him as a modern-day Buddha, saying that Pujara does meditation at the crease.
Pujara generally remains oblivious to the chaos around him. Recently, Kagiso Rabada tried to launch a word attack on Pujara his feathers with some stern words during India’s second Test versus South Africa at the MCA Stadium in Pune. However, Pujara is least worried about the sledging by the Proteas speedster.
On Day 1 of the Pune Test, Pujara got a well-crafted 112-ball 58 in a 138-run stand with centurion Mayank Agarwal. He likes to be in his zone and prefers avoiding any external noise that diverts his mind. He is also mindful of the fact that Rabada will try his level best to disturb his concentration.
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Talking about the incident, during the post-day press conference, Pujara said, “As a batsman, I always know that he (Rabada) will try to disturb my concentration, not just him but any bowler, who passes a comment, so I try and avoid (listening to) what they say. If you are in your zone, you hardly hear what they are trying to say as you are too much focus on what you want to do as a batsman. So, when you are in your own zone, you miss out on what they are saying.”
Pujara didn’t quite have the greatest of outings in the two-match Test series versus the West Indies. There he could only manage 60 runs at an average of 15. But Pujara managed to get his form back with a sparkling 81 in the second innings of the previous Test.
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As far as Rabada is concerned, he has been South Africa’s wicket-taker in the match so far. To start with, he got rid of opener Rohit Sharma in a fiery opening burst. Then he nipped out Agarwal and Pujara, both of whom frustrated the visitors’ bowlers with their calm and collected approach.
