Cheteshwar Pujara 'hurt us badly', Matthew Hayden revisits the 2018/19 Test series

Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden said that the hosts will need a lot of caffeine to watch India's Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara bat against them in the upcoming Test series, commencing on Thursday. The number three Test batsman had played a crucial role in Team India's 2-1 (four-match series) win Down Under in the 2018/19 season where he had amassed 521 runs in eight innings and had breached the three-figure mark thrice. 

'He hurt us badly': Matthew Hayden

"As you know Australians love to drink coffee, and we have decided to go on a little campaign to make sure we have plenty of caffeine when it comes to watching Pujara bat. But, you know what the reality is, he hurt us badly. We are of a generation now where we are admiring people for their strike play, we are admiring people for their strike rate. Well, he is one of the few guys in Test cricket that have a strike rate of sub 45 and he can hurt you," said Hayden while speaking on the Star Sports show 'GAME PLAN'.

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India tour of Australia 2018/19

India had beaten Australia 2-1 in the four-match series and ended up registering their maiden Test series win on Australian soil. However, the Australian team was without the services of their key players Steve Smith and David Warner who were handed a one-year ban from international cricket due to their involvement in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier in the year. 

India were made to toil hard in the opening Test match at the Adelaide Oval as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by 31 runs. However, the hosts settled the scores in the following Test at Perth by registering an emphatic 146-run win to level the four-match series. However, it was Virat Kohli and India who had the last laugh as they comprehensively won the 'Boxing Day' Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by 137 runs while the final Test match in Sydney ended in a stalemate.

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(Image Courtesy: AP)

(With ANI Inputs)