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Cricket Players'He reminds me of Amla': Gavaskar lavishes huge praise for under-fire India batter; 'Great, great blessing' to have him
Sunil Gavaskar drew the batter's comparison with South Africa great Hashim Amla.
Team India conceded a seven-wicket defeat in the second Test of the series against South Africa in Johannesburg. Proteas captain Dean Elgar produced a brilliant performance under pressure, remaining unbeaten on 96 in the 240-run chase to steer the hosts to a series-leveling victory at Wanderers.
India, who were plagued with their batting order issues, drew some respite, however, with their senior batters stepping up in the second innings of the Johannesburg Test. Both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored brisk half-centuries at the Wanderers, which helped India set a competitive target for the Proteas.
The duo forged a 111-run partnership for the third wicket and Pujara, who has faced significant criticism for his slow knocks over time, slammed 10 boundaries for his 53 off 86 deliveries.
One of the integral members of the Indian Test squad, Pujara has drawn flak over his inconsistent form over the past year but former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar lavished praise on the senior batter, drawing his comparison with South Africa great Hashim Amla.
“When I look at him, he reminds me of Hashim. Watching Hashim bat, you know there's a sense of calm that everything is under control. The ball could be doing things but there was that sense because even on pitches where the ball was turning, the way Hashim was batting in India, it was almost as if, 'look, nothing's happening', and that's the same thing with Cheteshwar Pujara," said Gavaskar on SuperSport.
Gavaskar further insisted that players with Pujara's temperament is “absolutely terrific” for the dressing room.
“It is a great, great blessing to have players of this temperament in your dressing room. (It may not be) necessarily just on the field but it's a huge plus and I think having somebody with Cheteshwar Puajra's temperament in the changing room must be absolutely terrific because in international cricket, there are several moments of tension where people would want to do this or that or the other. When you have somebody who's going to think about it calmly and give you a measured opinion it makes a big difference,” said Gavaskar.
