"Struggle is his name" - Ajay Jadeja on Cheteshwar Pujara's attacking century
Ajay Jadeja has praised Cheteshwar Pujara for putting in the hard yards which eventually gave him success at the international level.
Pujara scored an unbeaten 102 off 130 balls in India's second innings of the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram. His knock, clubbed with a maiden Test century by Shubman Gill, helped the visitors set a mammoth 513-run fourth-innings target for the Tigers. India eventually won the match by 188 runs.
While reviewing the game on Sony Sports, Ajay Jadeja was asked about his thoughts on Cheteshwar Pujara's attacking knock, to which he responded:
"Don't forget he had been dropped two Tests back and was out for a series. The selectors had rejected him and the same selectors got him back. This guy has always shown in his career, right from his under-15 days, that struggle is his name."
The former Indian skipper was in awe of the Saurashtra batter's love for the game, elaborating:
"He has had operations on both his knees, it is very difficult after that. This guy kept on doing the difficult tasks and he has so much love for the game that wherever you play him, he doesn't get out. He is not fond of playing shots but of scoring runs."
Jadeja highlighted that the dogged batter has been almost as prolific as Virat Kohli in Test cricket, observing:
"No one has given as much solidity as him. He and Virat Kohli have had parallel careers, both have played in the same era, he is not too far behind in terms of runs, attractiveness is probably not that much.
"If you see his contribution over the last 10 years, he has done one inch more than what was in his control."
Cheteshwar Pujara won the Valuable player of the match award in this test match against Bangladesh. https://t.co/l5TgIC2jnU
Pujara has amassed 6984 runs at an average of 44.76 in 97 Tests, while Kohli has aggregated 8094 runs at an average of 49.35 in 103 games.
"It is not that he increased the number of fours and sixes" - Ajay Jadeja on Cheteshwar Pujara's second-innings century
Pujara notably scored 90 off 203 balls in the first innings against Bangladesh. While there was a disparity in strike rate, Jadeja added that India's No. 3 batter's boundary count was not too dissimilar in his two innings and explained:
"He made the best of the opportunity. If you analyze his knock, he hit 11 fours when he scored 90 and 13 fours when he scored the hundred. It is not that he increased the number of fours and sixes. The game situation was such that when he was playing, he was getting singles, so not too many dots were added."
We couldn't have asked for a better way to begin our Test Series. Superb all-around performance as a unit. Victories like these are always special! Thank you for your love and support. We keep marching 💪 https://t.co/iv3btoy6O3
However, Jadeja acknowledged that the veteran batter did dance down the track to hit a few fours over the top in the second innings. The former cricketer feels the 34-year-old took full advantage of his experience as Shakib Al Hasan kept an attacking field, least expecting him to play in that fashion.