Winning Matches Is More Important:
Indian Test Batsman Cheteswara Pujara who receives undue negativity for his slow batting has opened up on his style of play.
The middle-order Indian batsman was once again in the middle of unwanted attention last week when he ground out 66 runs off 237 balls in Ranji final helping Sausrashtra beat Bengal to lift their maiden title.
He said that there is no pressure from the captain, coach, players, or the management over his low strike rate and it is only in the media it is portrayed differently. They understand his style of play and how important it is, he added.
About the negative comments on social media, he replied, “The question that was asked on social media (during the Ranji Trophy final) was ‘Why am I taking so long to score X number of runs’? Whether I pay attention to that? No, I don’t. My job is to make sure that the team wins all times.”
He further added, “People have this tendency to pinpoint one person, but it is just not about me. If you look at any Test series where I have scored runs and taken a little bit of time, the opposition batsmen, most of them, have consumed the same number of balls.”
“I Can’t Be David Warner Or Virendra Sehwag”:
“I know I can’t be a David Warner or Virender Sehwag, but if a normal batsman takes time there is nothing wrong in that”, he said defending his way of playing.
He assessed his performance this season where he scored 5 half-centuries but could not make a hundred saying that people expect him to score big every match, and he himself wants to score a 100 but averaging 50 is like making a half-century every second inning, and though he is not satisfied with the scores this season, he feels that it is not a bad one either.
