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Cricket PlayersOut of 20 days of Test cricket in Australia we’d be happy if he bats out 15 of those: Sunil Gavaskar on India batsman
Last time around, it was Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored three centuries en route to scoring 521 runs and tired out Australia, and against a formidable Australian bowling unit, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed India’s No. 3 to once again produce a batting marathon.
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts on Thursday and with Virat Kohli set to return game after the first Test in Adelaide, the onus will be on the rest of the Indian batsmen to step up in the absence of their captain. India have four frontline opening batsmen in Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul, along with the presence of Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari in the middle order.
Like Rahul Dravid pointed out, India’s bowling attack looks potent – one that is capable of picking up 20 wickets in a Test, but he also highlighted that if India are to repeat their triumph from two years ago Down Under, they will need at least one batsman to score 500 or more in the series.
Last time around, it was Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored three centuries en route to scoring 521 runs and tired out Australia, and against a formidable Australian bowling unit, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has backed India’s No. 3 to once again produce a batting marathon.
“Out of 20 days of Test cricket that we have ahead of us, we are really happy to have him bat for 15 days, there is no question about it,” Gavaskar said on the Star Sports Show GAME PLAN.
“Whether he 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.”
Not just Gavaskar, even former Australia opening batsman Matthew Hayden is aware of the threat that Pujara poses. Hayden feels Pujara is capable of hurting Australia with his long, patient innings and in an era, where big-hitting batsmen are ruling the roost, Pujara’s technique is straight out of the old school book of Test match batting.
“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,” Hayden said on the show.
“But, you know what the reality is, he hurt us badly. We are of a generation now where we are admiring people for their stroke 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 you.”
