Cheteshwar Pujara interviews Hardik Pandya after India's win

Indian cricketers Cheteshwar Pujara and Hardik Pandya decided to have some fun on the ground after their thumping victory against the Lions on Saturday. The two cricketers chose to engage themselves in an interview session. As Pujara opted for the role of the reporter, Pandya had to answer the questions. However, both of them pulled off the cameo pretty nicely and the video was posted by the BCCI on their official Twitter handle.

The interview:

When asked about how does he feel about earning his first Test cap and scoring a fifty on debut, Hardik Pandya said that it was an extremely proud moment for himself as he always dreamt of playing the longer version of the game as a child.

“I always proud about it. As a young cricketer, you always want to play Test cricket and when eventually you do it, you feel good about it.” said Hardik.

Speaking about his preparations for adjusting to the Test format, Hardik Pandya mentioned that he did not try to change his style of play. He said that he felt like batting in a limited overs game.

“As an international cricketer, you should be really smart with your preparations. I feel that to play all three formats, you need to switch your mind, only the format changes not the skills. The way I batted, I thought I was batting in a one-dayer, the scenario was too perfect for me. But yes, you take time for your preparation – batting and bowling. Patience is pretty important in one-day cricket. You know it pretty well.” said Hardik.

Cheteshwar Pujara wanted to know about how Hardik manages to hit those gigantic sixes. Answering the question, Pandya admitted to the fact that he is not a great puller of the ball and he is happy that he could hit those sixes.

“I was really proud to implement the pull shots because I don’t really pull well.” answered Hardik.

Pujara then asked Hardik to answer a tricky question. The elegant stroke player asked Hardik to choose between the both of them on the basis of facing short pitched deliveries. Without any hesitation, Hardik said that it is Pujara who is a better when it comes to dealing with short pitched balls.

“Definitely, Pujara bhai, it’s you. You can actually hit easily 100 meter in any ground.” said Hardik.

When asked if he can ever pull off 6 sixes of 6 balls like Yuvraj Singh did against England, Hardik Pandya came up with a brilliant answer. The promising all-rounder pointed out that he always focuses on what the team requires at that moment. He mentioned that he has hit 3 sixes in 3 balls but did not try the 4^th because the situation did not ask for that. Having said that, the Baroda boy claimed that he will definitely fancy hitting 6 sixes in an over when the team needs.

“I don’t think about hitting six sixes. I just think about what the team requires. I have hit three sixes in three balls but never went for the fourth six because the team situation didn’t demand that. But someday, when the team demands sixes in all balls I might go for it.” said Pandya.

Hardik Pandya took the name of South African all-rounder and legend Jacques Kallis when asked about his favourite cricketer. According to Pandya, scoring so many runs along with taking so many wickets is an incredible achievement.

“Jacques Kallis, for what he has done in his career for South Africa in all formats. Scoring all those runs and taking wickets, batting at number three, which is really remarkable.” said Hardik.

Hardik also narrated the story of how he started to take the game seriously. He said that Kiran More was the man who spotted him as a talent and made him serious about the game.

“I started playing cricket when I was six and half along with my brother Krunal. I was one person who used to trouble a lot of persons, I do now as well. I used to trouble Krunal during practice. One day Kiran More sir saw me and said why are you wasting your energy here, come and join the game. It started from there.”

Hardik pointed out that he loves to change his hairstyle and likes to experiment with the colour. Cars, movies and popcorns are his favourite things away from the 22 yards.

“ Hardik said “I can’t say that I am a rock star. I like change in my hair colour, my hair style, different type of clothes. I am very happy to take whatever name you give me.”

He continued “I love cars, I love watching movies and more than movies I love to eat popcorns. The reason I went for Starwars was popcorn because I love cheese pocorn and I don’t get it anywhere apart from theaters.”

VIDEO: @cheteshwar1 quizzes @hardikpandya7 on a wide range of topics – by @28anand https://t.co/OTV61Zhms8 #SLvIND #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/WHRXtXWVZN

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 31, 2017