Cheteshwar Pujara ready to face 'bullets' for team; reveals why he's called ‘the rock'

Cheteshwar Pujara, like many of Indian cricket fans, still remembers historic Test series victory against Australia last year, where India won 2-1 in a five-match series. In a recent chat with  BBC's Test Match Special podcast, Pujara opened about problems India h to deal with a lot of injuries. During famous Down Under series, Pujara recalled that he was hit multiple times by  ball and refore, he was called ' rock'.

Pujara said that he h to face 'bullet' and that being a top-order batsman for India, especially overseas takes a lot of guts, patience, and temperament. 

"re are times when you need to face bullet. If you are batting at top of order for Indian team, especially overseas, you need to have a lot of guts. You need to have lots of patience and temperament. re are some innings where I h to take bullet and that’s why y call me 'Rock'," said Pujara.

He n talked about how difficult it was to judge bounce of ball and he was taking hits to his body to try and save his wicket.

"It was difficult to judge bounce of ball. And re were balls which were hitting my body. I just told myself that even if it hits my body, I will keep my hands down. I don’t want ball to hit my gloves or bat. And that was mainly game plan for any that was bowled short of back of a length," explained Pujara.

India vs England first Test abandoned owing to rain

opening Test between India and England at Trent Bridge in ttingham was poised for an exciting finish. For first four days, both teams h ir moments, but it was India, who h ir ses slightly ahe after closing of play on fourth day. visitors needed 157 runs to win with nine wickets in hand. KL Rahul, ir top-scorer in first innings, was alrey back in pavilion.

To start with, it was up to Rohit Sharma and Pujara to guide India off to a win. With ball seaming around, Brits’ bowlers would have fancied ir chances as well. However, amidst all excitement and thrill around last day’s play, wear gods h or plans. t a single ball could be bowled on day as rain ended up playing spoilsport on Super Sunday.

Due to rain, first match of 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle ended in a draw. At around 15:30 local time, it stopped raining, but 15 minutes later, heavens again opened up. A while later at 15:50 local time, match officials threw in ir towels. groundsmen tried ir hearts out, but match h to be abandoned, leing to an anticlimactic ending. 

IND vs ENG second Test match

second match of  IND vs ENG Test series will be hosted by Lord's from August 12 to 16. After a gap of almost 10 days, two teams will be back in action for third game at Emerald Heingley from August 25 to 29. final two Tests (September 2-6 & 10-14) will be held at London's Kia Oval and Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester respectively. 

(Im Credits: @cheteshwar1 - Twitter)