Cheteshwar Pujara's two-year-old daughter shares home remedy to reduce her father's pain
Two-year-old Aditi Pujara has a home remedy which would reduce her father Cheteshwar Pujara's pain. When India’s hero from the Gabba Test returns home, she would kiss the places where it hurts.
Cheteshwar Pujara had copped several body blows in his resilient knock of 56 runs off 211 balls in the fourth Test. He spent over five hours at the crease which enabled the other batsmen to play around him. The manner in which the 32-year-old withstood the pain and battled on was lauded by one and all.
But the right-handed batsman is amused by his daughter's home remedy. He told The New Indian Express that she learnt the trick from him.
“That’s what I do to her when she falls, so she believes that a kiss can heal every wound,” Pujara said.
As he is not in the habit of taking pain-killers, Cheteshwar Pujara's threshold to bear pain is higher than most. As a result, he could continue playing in Brisbane despite being hit on the body so many times.
“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,” Pujara added.
Considering the match situation, I decided to let the ball hit my body: Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara revealed that it was one specific end of the Gabba pitch which had a crack that troubled him. Australian quick Pat Cummins consistently bowled in that area and made the ball follow him.
Considering the risk involved in trying to get on top of the steep bounce, Pujara decided to let the ball hit his body and survive the phase.
“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,” Pujara added.
Even though the returns of 271 runs at an average of 33.87 doesn't make that good of a reading, the time Pujara spent at the crease blunting the Aussie bowling attack was crucial for India. The visitors won the Gabba Test to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.