'After last 3 years even he needs a Test 100': Ganguly rings warning bell for India star; 'he needs to be at his best'
The series will feature some of the heavyweights in the sports, which include the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma, among many others.
After starting the year on a high note, Team India will look to carry forward the winning momentum when they meet Australia in the high-octane Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting from Thursday in Nagpur. The hosts will be beaming with confidence, having won the previous three editions, out of which two came on Australian soil.
Pat Cummins' Australia, on the other hand, have been at the top of their game, having crushed all the opponents they have met since the pacer took over as the red-ball captain. It started with a commanding performance against England, and they head into the series after a dominant win over the Proteas at home.
Australia are placed top on both ICC Test rankings and the World Test Championship (WTC) table, and will be ready for yet another challenge, which arguably is Cummins' biggest so far.
The focus has so far remained on the Indian pitches, but there have been quite a few discussions on the players as well. The series will feature some of the heavyweights in the sports, which include the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma, among many others.
India's red-ball specialist Cheteshwar Pujara is also someone, the Aussies will have their eyes on. The right-handed batter holds a superb record against the Kangaroos, and his show back in 2018-19 will always be remembered as one of his masterclass. Pujara had then finished as the leading run-scorer, amassing 521 runs from seven innings, scoring at a healthy average of 74.43.
However, Pujara failed to replicate the same in the following edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He also endured a lean patch in between, but the batter regained his mojo while representing Sussex over the summers in England.
However, ahead of the much-anticipated encounter, former India captain Sourav Ganguly noted that the upcoming series will be crucial for the Saurashtra batter, pointing out the dearth in centuries against big teams.
"He’s playing his 100th Test in Delhi and that’s a great achievement. He will be the 13th Indian to play 100 Test matches and he totally deserves it. But he also needs to be at his best because after the last three years, even he needs a Test hundred against good attacks. It will be a big series for him," said Ganguly in an interview with Sportstar.
Pujara recently ended his four-year-long century drought, slamming an unbeaten 102 off 130 balls against Bangladesh in the first Test, which was also his fastest ton in the longer format.
