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Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has revealed some interesting incident about his on-field banter with former Australia's star opener David Warner. The two players have shared the field in numerous Test matches, particularly during the high-stakes Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Both Pujara and Warner are renowned for their exceptional batting abilities but amidst their intense rivalry, they have also engaged in light-hearted sledging.
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How Cheteshwar Pujara made David Warner's life miserable with his sledging
Pujara, during a conversation with Star Sports, shared an anecdote about his long-standing rivalry with Warner. Pujara revealed that Warner initiated the sledging during a Test series in Australia, taking a jibe at him while he was carrying the drinks. Since then, the two players have engaged in verbal battles throughout their careers. Pujara further elaborated on the playful rivalry between him and Warner. He admitted to responding to Warner's initial provocation and continued to engage in banter whenever they faced each other on the field. Pujara even employed a unique tactic, imitating Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling action to tease Warner.
"When I wasn't in the Playing XI in 2014-15 (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) and was carrying drinks, he came into the field and said that you look good carrying the drinks. After that, our conversation started and I reminded him every time and did something like this (Pujara does an offspinner's action through his fingers because Warner had been dismissed by Ashwin numerous times)," Pujara said.
"I even told the bowlers that you just show this offspinner's action and he will get out. I wanted to play the psychological game on him. Then, I also spoke to him at short leg but I won't elaborate on that discussion here," he further stated.
Pujara revealed that his playful rivalry with Warner extended beyond the cricket field. Even during Warner's visits to India, Pujara continued his playful banter. Pujara also claimed that the sledging affected Warner psychologically.
"After that incident, whenever David Warner visited India, I was always reminding him that you get out to Ashwin a lot of times and it affected him psychologically. There were a few occasions when we were travelling together and I used to encounter David Warner. I used to have so many conversations with David Warner that he went the other side after seeing my face and didn't appear in front of me even when we were travelling together," Pujara signed off.
Warner didn't have a good track record against Ashwin in Test cricket. Ashwin has dismissed Warner 11 times in their 32 Test encounters, leaving Warner with a lowly average of 21.81. Meanwhile, Pujara is currently sitting on sidelines of cricket but played an instrumental role role in India's historic Test series win in Australia. In the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Pujara was the series' leading run-scorer with 521 runs at an impressive average of 74.42, including three centuries and a half-century. In the 2020-21 series, he contributed 271 runs at an average of 33.87, finishing fourth on the run-scoring charts.
