Former Australian opener, Matthew Hayden reckons that in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar, the hosts will need a lot of caffeine to witness the masterclass of India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara bat against them in the upcoming Test series as he is one of the very few batsmen in modern-day cricket who can hurt the opposition teams even with their low strike rate.

Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest run-getter in India’s maiden Test series win Down Under. He had amassed 521 runs in a span of 1258 deliveries during four Tests to become a tension for the opposition bowlers. Pujara’s role becomes more critical for India once skipper Virat Kohli returns following the conclusion of the first Test of the four-match series.

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Talking about the same during a chat with Star Sports, Matthew Hayden said, “As you know Australians love to drink coffee, and we have decided to go on a little campaign to make sure we have plenty of caffeine when it comes to watching Pujara bat. But, you know what the reality is, he hurt us badly.”

He further added, “We are of a generation now where we are admiring people for their strike play, we are admiring people for their strike rate. Well he is one of the few guys in Test cricket that have a strike rate of sub 45 and he can hurt.”

India legend Sunil Gavaskar was also seen showering praises for Pujara and said that he was looking forward to seeing him bat in the upcoming series.

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Gavaskar had said, “Whether he (Pujara) has played any cricket or not, I don’t think it’s going to make any difference because he is so strong mentally, that he will be…he loves batting, he loves being at the crease, he loves wearing the bowlers down. In the last two years, he has also improved his strokes and range of shots.”