'He was leading India at the time' : Pujara recalls first meeting with 'inspiration' Rahul Dravid 'as a young kid'

Cheteshwar Pujara's first meeting with Rahul Dravid was back when the latter was India captain and he was a youngster making a name in Rajkot.

Cheteshwar Pujara is considered the heir to Rahul Dravid as ‘The Wall’ within the Indian batting lineup. Pujara fit seamlessly into the No.3 role that Dravid had left vacant when the former India captain ended his illustrious career and shared with the latter a tendency to play long innings.

Pujara has often drawn comparisons to Dravid. 

Dravid is now head coach of the Indian team and Pujara is part of the Test squad in England, trying to show just how good he is after being dropped earlier this year due to a run of poor form.

“Rahul Bhai has always been an inspiration for me. When I first met him in 2007, he was leading the India team. He came to Rajkot. That was my first interaction with him as a young kid,” Pujara said on BCCI.tv.

“After that, I have always been in touch, I have learned so many things from him as a cricketer when I was playing with him and even after he retired and coached India A team, he has always been helpful.”

Pujara was at the peak of his powers in 2018 but his form dipped after January 2019, which is the last time he scored a century. He was finally dropped after India's 2-1 loss in South Africa earlier this year, but then he forced his way back into the team by going on a run scoring spree in the Ranji Trophy and County Cricket.

It meant that Pujara came back under Dravid's fold. "He always keeps things simple, he has great ideas about batting, he doesn't complicate things. It's always good to learn from him, it's always good to work with Rahul Bhai. It's a good environment to be in, even when we played here in 2021, when Ravi (Shastri) Bhai was around, the way the guys played (was fantastic)," he said.