'He always keeps things simple' - Cheteshwar Pujara recalls first meet with 'inspiration' Rahul Dravid

The veteran Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara has shared a memory of his first meeting with Indian head coach Rahul Dravid. He heaped the praises on the former Indian captain and said that he has learned many things from Dravid even after he got retired in 2012. Pujara successfully donned the No. 3 position in Test cricket and had been termed as “next wall” during his prime.

Dravid, regarded as one of the best Test players of all time, was hailed for his techniques and skills which flourished more in difficult situations. He scored 13288 runs in 164 Test matches at an average of 52.3 and 10889 runs in 344 ODI matches during his 16 years of dominance in Indian cricket.

After retirement, he stayed connected with cricket with different coaching roles and was finally named head coach of the Indian team at the end of the last year. Meanwhile, Pujara has also became a crucial part of the Indian cricket Test team and is closing on 7000 international runs. He said that Dravid has been his inspiration since he met him as a young kid in 2007 in Rajkot.

“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. 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 told BCCI.tv.

“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,” he added.

The 34-year-old batter last scored a century in January 2019 and was eventually dropped after the 2-1 series loss against South Africa earlier this year. However, Pujara worked hard and scored consistently big runs in both Ranji Trophy 2022 and County cricket to force his way back into the national team for the rescheduled last Test match against England.