India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara has earned widespread praise for his calm and composed demeanor on and off the pitch. He is one of the most serious and focused members of the Indian cricket team, rarely engaging in verbal sparring or any other distractions outside of cricket. Over the years, Pujara has given many memorable performances for the Indian Test team. The 35-year-old batter is even hailed as the modern-day wall of the Indian cricket team because of the same.
Shedding light on Pujara’s “Nice Guy” persona, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma revealed that Pujara has been this way since his Under-19 days.
Ishant Sharma Revealed Secrets About The Good Boy Of Team India
In an old interview, Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli revealed that Pujara is an extremely religious person. Ishant in an interaction with Youtuber Ranveer Allahbadia on his talk show, echoed the same sentiment. He revealed that Pujara likes to stay away from other distractions, unlike many other players his age. He said:
“Pujji [Pujara] was like that from the start. From U-19 NCA days, he used to get up in the morning and do pooja and wear janeu (sacred thread). He still wears it. If you ask him certain [naughty] things, he would be like, ‘no this is wrong, I don’t do it’,”
He added: “We used to think, ‘Bhai, tu jee kyu raha hai?’ (Brother, why are you living?). Pujara is still like that, but we have changed with time. With time, I guess, everyone realizes that this [being spiritual] is also important,”
Pujara Has Been Dropped From Team India
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara was recently dropped from the Indian team following his poor outing in the World Test Championship Final 2023, where he failed to leave a mark with his performance, scoring just 14 and 27 runs in the two innings.
Pujara has been averaging 29.69 since the year 2020 with 1455 runs to his name. Replacing him, young and talented Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been selected for the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series. In Pujara’s absence, one of the two youngsters will definitely get an opportunity to play.
