India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara stood tall like an unbreakable wall as he coped body blows during the second innings of the fourth Test match against a dangerous Australian pacer.
Pujara was hit on his finger, ribs, shoulder, and helmet (twice so far) throughout his knock-on day 5 of the fourth and final Test match at the Gabba. The veteran batsman was hit on the body as many as 11 times, however, he remained unfazed by all the body blows.
Pujara showed immense fighting spirit as he tackled the dangerous Australian bowlers, who were trying to put pressure on the Indian batsmen with their aggressive bowling. As India’s No. 3 batsman in the Test format dealt with body blows, the whole country saluted the fighting spirit of Pujara. However, the most adorable reactions came from his daughter.
Pujara’s wife revealed that she covered the eyes of their 2-year-old daughter when Pujara was being targeted with bodily bouncers. The 2-year-old Aditi said: “When he comes home, I will kiss where he is hurt, he will be fine.”
Pujara is getting checked by the doctor after this Cummins delivery got him in the back of the helmet #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/37bSIFbDGZ
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 19, 2021
After all, like father like daughter: Speaking to Indian Express about the historic Test, Cheteshwar Pujara explained that his daughter feels that a kiss can heal all sort of wounds in the world, and hence he is going to get a lot of kisses once he reaches home. He said:
“That’s what I do to her when she falls, so she believes that a kiss can heal every wound,”
Furthermore, he admitted that there’s no part of his body that has not undergone wear and tear ever since he started playing cricket. He revealed:
“From my early days, I am not in the habit of taking pain- killers. That’s why my threshold to bear pain is pretty high. You play for so long, you get used to getting hit,”
Talking about the body-blows he received during the Brisbane Test, he said:
“I mostly got hit from one end and that too against (Pat) Cummins. There was this crack on the pitch around the short-of-length spot from where the ball would just take off. Cummins has the skill to make the ball rear up from there and make it follow you. In case I took my hand up to defend it, there was a risk that I would glove the ball. Considering the match situation and how we couldn’t afford to lose wickets, I decided to let the ball hit my body,”
