Cheteshwar Pujara, who is in the form of his life, says he has not made any change in his technique but the intent has surely changed on the advice of head coach Anil Kumble.
Cheteshwar Pujara defended teammate Ravichandran Ashwin after a poor outing by the premier off-spinner left India facing a daunting task in the fourth Test against England, in Southampton, on Saturday.
Pujara scored an unbeaten 130 as India finished day one at 303 for four.
Cheteshwar Pujara is confident that his scoring touch will return in the upcoming Test series against Australia in Adelaide.
An unbeaten 162 by the opener saw the India under-19 side score 283 for 2 on day 1 in the third 'Test' against their England counterparts.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli combined to frustrate Australia for an entire session as India held the whip-hand at 215 for two at the close of a grinding opening day of the third Test in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Pujara and Vijay added 209 runs for the second wicket to set a platform from where India would look to bat the Islanders out of the contest.
India's middle-order mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara scored his last half-century six innings ago but the Saurashtra batsman is 'not too worried' about his own form, saying he is happy as long as he is contributing in the team's success.
'He is like a pillar and the whole team bats around him.' 'In today's world, everyone likes to play their strokes while Pujara is someone who will tire out the bowlers.' 'If you have one batsman who can play out the new ball or play out a spell from a good bowler, then it helps the whole team, it helps the other batsmen.'
Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored his maiden Test double century in India's mammoth first innings total against England, has said that missing out on a hundred in the warm-up game inspired him to score big in the first Test in Ahmedabad.
Back in the squad for the Test series against New Zealand, Cheteshwar Pujara is determined to perform and contribute to India's winning cause.
'See, he (Kohli) is a kind of player who performs well in all the formats of the game and the way he started off, if there was some other batsmen, I don't think they could have started in the same way. I think it's his confidence and way he is batting, in last two to three years, it would have been difficult for any other batsman to score at such a strike rate'
Cheteshwar Pujara, who was among the top-order batsmen who failed to click in the five-Test series against England, has turned his attention to Derbyshire to find form.
ndian team management confirmed that the forearm injury sustained by Cheteshwar Pujara is not very serious and he will be able to bat during India's second innings.
His century in the Perth Test during the 2018-2019 series is rated by many as his finest, which Virat Kohli also acknowledges as his best in Australia.
Captain Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara made centuries and shared a stand of 226 to put India on course for a big first-innings total against England on the first day of the second Test on Thursday. - Scorecard: Kohli was unbeaten on 151 and Ravichandran Ashwin on one as India reached 317 for four at the close after winning the toss in the first ever Test match in the port city of Visakhapatnam.
A round up of the fourth and final day's action of the Ranji Trophy matches on Sunday.
"I would like those who are not playing IPL, especially Pujara, to go and play county cricket in England. He would encounter different types of wickets especially in April and May which will give good experience and exposure," Azhar said.
India 'A' captain Cheteshwar Pujara asserted that there are no technical flaws in his game and his stint with English county side Yorkshire has prepared him mentally for the demands of the modern day cricket.
'I do feel there's a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to ... showcase that in club level cricket.'
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli thwarted Australia in a diligent partnership to push India to a position of strength and a 166-run lead at the close of day three of the first Test.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins believes that the 2018-19 Test series loss to India was more hurtful than the 2020-21 debacle under his captaincy as the home team was simply outplayed in that engagement.
While the spinners stole the limelight in India's convincing victory in the first Test against South Africa in Mohali, one cannot forget the key contribution made by Cheteshwar Pujara with the bat, especially in the second innings when batting had become really difficult.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane hit unbeaten centuries to power India to 344 for three against Sri Lanka on Day 1 of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, on Thursday.
Pujara stood tall in a defiant 47 off 102 balls even as Sri Lanka pacers made full use of the overcast conditions to run through the Indian batting line-up.
Chesteshwar Pujara displayed his appetite for a big score with a superlative unbeaten 256 as India Blue piled up a mammoth 693 for six in their bid to outbat the Reds on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final.
'It'll be very much a battle again between the very good pace bowling attacks of both sides and how well the top order players of both sides can deal with the ball that will bounce, seam and probably swing a little bit more in the day-night game in Adelaide.'
Under pressure to retain his place in the Test XI, Cheteshwar Pujara overshadowed Rohit Sharma by scoring a solid hundred as India Blue made full use of a placid track to amass 362/3 against India Red on the first day of the Duleep Trophy final in Greater Noida.
Pujara, who had a base price of Rs 50 lakh went unsold at the IPL auctions in February.
'...it's been Shubman Gill, who's been moving from the opener's slot, and he himself wanted to bat at No. 3.'
With 765 international scalps in his bag, Ashwin is the second-highest wicket-taker from India after Anil Kumble.
The 38-year-old played the day-night Test in Adelaide and picked up one wicket.
Cheteshwar Pujara said that although England bowled a "negative" line during his partnership with skipper Virat Kohli, his team showed a lot of character and would be looking to take 75-100 runs lead in the first innings of the third Test in Mohali.
The 18-year-old cracked an unbeaten century to help Saurashtra reach 325 for four against Tamil Nadu.
India's chief coach Ravi Shastri feels that Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara should remain in the top bracket when the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Committee of Administrators (COA) thrash out the revised central contracts based on the new remuneration structure.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were part of India's Test team till earlier this year, but were left out of the tour to South Africa, the selectors pinning hopes on youngsters Shubman Gill and Yashawi Jaiswal to produce the goods in challenging conditions.
As India's marathon 13-Test home season draws to a close after the fourth and deciding match against Australia in Dharamsala later this week, captain Virat Kohli gave a ringing endorsement of Pujara's worth in the longest format.
Senior India pace bowler Zaheer Khan and prolific batsman Cheteshwar Pujara left Mumbai by an early morning flight to South Africa along with three other players well ahead of the two-Test series against the hosts.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane along with the uncapped duo of Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan are in the running for a place in the Indian Test team.
After helping Saurashtra win their maiden Ranji Trophy title last month, little did he know that he would be spending all his time at home. Pujara is enjoying the 'forced' break and most of his time goes into entertaining his two-year-old daughter.
