My father is my best and worst critic: Cheteshwar Pujara

India’s Test No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara who continued his sublime form to help India win the series opener against Sri Lanka revealed certain insights involving his career. Having shared the dressing room with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, Pujara admitted that he has learned a lot from the Indian cricket legends.

Son of former Saurashtra Ranji cricketer Arvind Pujara, the right hander also revealed that his present form has made his “worst critic” happy and is no longer as strict as he used to be. In the 49 Tests that the 29-year-old has played, Pujara has scored 3966 runs at an average of 52.18, inclusive of 12 hundred. The most recent of those centuries came in the opening Test of the series at Galle that India won by a massive 304 runs.

“From the legends (Tendulkar and Dravid), one thing I learned was that they always worked hard on their game. Many of them scored more than 10,000 runs and they way they were still working hard on the game, always trying to improve their game. They were all grounded and they were trying to support young players. Their work ethic, determination and pride in representing the country was always there,” Pujara was quoted by Deccan Chronicle.

Confident that India can defeat any team

Pujara’s seven-year international career, however, was a start-stop one till 2015. The early phase was marred by knee injuries. There was also a patch where he could not convert good starts. The most crucial fact that has been reassuring for the Rajkot right-hander is that everyone in the Indian team believed that he will be back among runs. Rahul Dravid even advised him to continue the way he was batting.

Recollecting how his father used to critique him, Pujara said, “My father has always been my best and worst critic. At times, he has been very critical but now we have come to an understanding, where we always speak and we come to a conclusion. And he is not very strict anymore,”

Going forward, Pujara feels confident that when the Indian team faces the big guns of world cricket, the team will be ready to take those formidable opposition head on.