Cheteshwar Pujara in on cusp of scripting a milestone of playing his 100th Test which will be materialised in the second Test between India and Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on February 17 (Friday).
Right ahead of the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, Pujara admitted how special it is for him to play 100 Test for India but he is not lured by the milestone instead has his sights set on a bigger goal. The 35-year-old has a dream for India, a dream to help India reach World Test Championship 2021-2023 (WTC) final and win it ultimately.
“Playing 100 Tests means a lot to me and my family, my father has played an important role, he will be here tomorrow. I am thankful to my family for their support,” Pujara said in the pre-match press conference.
"But there is a lot more to achieve as there is a much important series going on against Australia. First of all I want India to win this series which will pave out path for the WTC final. My dream is to win the WTC final for India. It couldn't happen last time but I really want India to win this time around,” he further added.
Pujara also spoke about his favourite innings in Tests so far.
“My favorite innings is my debut where I scored 72, it was the most important knock in my career. 2017 Bangalore-97 vs aus, first overseas hundred at joburg, 124 at Adelaide and the Gabba one,” Pujara revealed.
Ahead of second Test against Australia, Pujara also named Australia's most challenging bowler.
“Aus have a good fighting spirit, they will always challenge you as opponents. You do not get easy runs against aus. Little bit of banter and chatter going on always, but I let the bat do the talking. But we always enjoy those challenge.”
“Anderson in England, Morkel, Steyn in SA. First trip to SA was quite challenging. Cummins one of the most challenging bowlers in Australia.”
“Australia always have been a tough opposition, England too are challenging opponent. Our performance against them have been really good. we have fought against them as well,” he concluded.
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