Cheteshwar Pujara admits that he was lazy in gym early in career

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara, after having a good series in South Africa, which helped him to get to the 5th rank in the ICC Test Rankings recently, has admitted that in his earlier days in gym, he was bit lazy.

“I am really satisfied with my performance over the last one to one-and-a-half years. I have worked hard on my game. I have also worked hard on my fitness over the last 4-6 months after the surgery. I am paying a lot of attention to fitness. I was a bit lazy in my gym sessions earlier,” said Pujara at a media conference in Mumbai organised by his employers, Indian Oil Corporation.

“Improved fitness helps one to concentrate more when batting. I want to keep improving as a cricketer,” said the 25-year-old batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara.

“I am not allowed (by Cricket Board’s contract) to talk about past or future tours,” he said.

“I was an Under-19 cricketer when I joined Indian Oil. I have played a lot of Times Shield matches for IOL and I have learnt a lot from people like (former India opener) Wasim Jaffer (who was present) and others,” he said.

“Mental toughness is very important at the highest level of the game and I am working hard on this aspect,” he said.

In the upcoming New Zealand tour too, Pujara is only included in the Test squad. I personally feel that, it’s time up to give some opportunity to Pujara in the ODI squad of Indian cricket team.