Cheteshwar Pujara will be a huge wicket for us: Joe Root
Joe Root believes Cheteshwar Pujara will be a massive wicket for the England cricket team in their upcoming series against India. Ahead of the first Test in Chennai, Root highlighted Pujara's excellence and labeled him a 'fantastic' player.
Joe Root will lead the England cricket team in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series against India. This series is set to decide England's fate in the tournament.
Team India holds the number one position on the WTC standings at the moment. Cheteshwar Pujara has played a vital role in India's success, scoring eight fifties in the competition.
Pujara had played with Joe Root for Yorkshire in county cricket. Talking about the 33-year-old's significance in a virtual press conference, Root said:
"I think he is a fantastic player. I had the pleasure of playing alongside him at Yorkshire. To learn from him, speak to him about batting and his love of the game, it was very interesting. So, having played against him as well, on the wrong end of him making some huge scores and been out there for long periods of time, you know, you learn from those kind of innings, and you see the importance that he adds to the Indian team, and he is going to be a huge wicket for us. There is no doubt about that. It is going to be a great challenge to come up against him."
Cheteshwar Pujara has excellent numbers against England at home. He recorded his maiden double ton in Test cricket versus the English team in 2012 at the Motera Stadium.
In the 2016-17 home series against England, Pujara aggregated 401 runs in eight innings at an average of 50.13.
Can Cheteshwar Pujara take Team India to the ICC World Test Championship final?
Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the top Test players in Indian cricket history. However, the right-handed batsman has never played in an ICC tournament final at the senior level.
He was the Man of the Tournament in India's journey to the ICC U-19 World Cup Final in 2006.
The inaugural ICC World Test Championship is underway at the moment. Team India needs a minimum of two wins in the series against England. The hosts also need to ensure they do not lose more than one game to qualify for the final.
It will be interesting to see if Cheteshwar Pujara could help Team India secure its place in the summit clash versus New Zealand.