'We warned him not to go out at night' - Rohit Sharma recalls West Indies incident involving Cheteshwar Pujara

India ODI skipper Rohit Sharma recently shared an anecdote involving veteran Test cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara during the launch of the book 'The Diary of a Cricketer’s Wife', written by Pujara’s wife, Puja Pujara.

At the event, Rohit recalled a moment from the India A tour of the West Indies in 2012 and asked Pujara if any part of that tour was mentioned in the book. In response, Pujara revealed a shocking incident, that he had been mugged one night while out getting food.

“I haven't told. I mean, she is aware but she doesn't know the details. I am a vegetarian. So we were looking for a vegetarian meal at night. It was in T&T (Trinidad and Tobago) where we went out at 11 in the evening. We didn't find the meal but when we were walking back, I was mugged. I can't tell you in detail about it but that's the story he is referring to,” Pujara said as quoted by Mid Day.

Rohit elaborated that he had actually warned Pujara not to go out at night and described the latter as a stubborn person.

“Moral of the story is that he can be stubborn. We told him. We warned him not to go out in the night. Don't step out after 9 PM. This is the West Indies,” Rohit conceded.

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We used to tease him for his running: Rohit

Rohit also praised the Rajkot-born cricketer for his mental strength and resilience, especially for making comebacks after several serious injuries during his career. He recalled how they would often mock Pujara’s running technique, but he went on to play over 100 Test matches for India.

“We used to tease him about his running technique and all that but he managed to play more than 100 Test matches for India after that, a lot of credit goes to him for how he managed it. Great amount of dedication and passion he had to play the sport,” Rohit said.

BGT 2017 was one of the toughest series: Pujara

Pujara reflected on the demanding nature of international cricket and recalled the 2016/17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, calling it one of the toughest series he had ever been a part of. He emphasized how much it demanded from the players.

“I can mention one incident, in 2017, when India was bowled out for 200 odd runs against Australia, that was one of the toughest Test series I've been part of. This was the second Test match at Bangalore, and the team didn't do well in the first innings, and we were again in a spot of bother in the second innings, but I spoke to Anil (Kumble) bhai about how to tackle Nathan Lyon, and he came up with a technical suggestion,” Pujara concluded.