'I started crying and was in negative mindset' - Cheteshwar Pujara recalls toughest time of his career

India’s Test number three Cheteshwar Pujara is known for his toughness in the longest format of the game. His resolute batting frustrates the opposition bowlers something which happened in Australia earlier this year. He played a crucial role with the bat in India winning the four-match Test series by 2-1 despite most of the players being injured.

However, it hasn’t been easy for Pujara to achieve this success. His road to the top was full of obstacles and there was a time when he felt that he won’t be able to play cricket again. These are the times when the Saurashtra cricketer sustained an injury for the first time in his career. It was going to be a long haul for him away from the sport and this put doubts in his mind about his future. Rather he started crying soon after the physio told him about the injury.

“When I had my first injury, to come back from it was the toughest time of my cricketing career. The moment our team physio came to and spoke to me that the recovery will be about six months. So, I was so upset, I started crying. I was in a negative mindset at that time. ‘Will I be able to play this game again? Will I be able to play at the international level again?” Cheteshwar Pujara said in an Youtube interview on Mind Matters.

Talking to family members and friends helped a lot

However, the 33-year-old soon started talking to his close ones and they kept giving him positive vibes which helped him come out of the negative mindset. “So, slowly I started talking to my family members, my father, my friends and they started giving me positive feedback that you will come out of this, don’t worry about it. So, I stopped worrying about my future and started focusing on my present,” he further added.

Cheteshwar Pujara also does yoga and meditation to stay in the positive mindset and also claims to have known to handle pressure now. However, he used to cry in front of his mother in pressure situations before. “Once you are in a negative zone, everything around you become negative. I do yoga and try meditation, I do my prayers every day which helps me to remain in a positive mindset.

“There was a time when I felt I cannot handle the pressure. When I had issues in my younger days, I used to go to my mother and cried in front of her saying that I had a lot of pressure and nervousness and I don’t to want play cricket. But now I know how to handle the pressure,” Pujara said.