Former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja has showered praise on Cheteshwar Pujara for his fighting spirit to bounce back into the team. Pujara scored a valiant knock of 90 runs in the first essay to help India post 404 runs against Bangladesh in the first Test match at Chhatogram.
The right-hander added a crucial alliance of 149 runs with Shreyas Iyer after India lost four early wickets. It was difficult to bat on in the first innings and Pujara once again showed all the resistance.
Pujara then went on to score 102 runs off just 130 balls, which is his fastest Test century. Thus, Pujara was able to able to end the century drought of almost four years. Pujara was able to get to the three-digit mark after 52 Test innings.
The veteran batter was recently under the scanner for his underwhelming performances in the last couple of years but he was able to prove his mettle.
Meanwhile, Pujara was not picked for the home Test series against Sri Lanka after going through a rough patch but he was able to prove his mettle while playing in the County Championship.
After going unsold at the IPL 2022 auction, Pujara scored 1094 runs at an average of 60.10 in County Championship Division two whereas he scored 624 runs at an average of 89.19 in the Royal London One Day Cup this year.
Ergo, Pujara was able to get back into form and he was picked for the one-off Test match against England and also in the two Test matches against Bangladesh.
“Don’t forget he had been dropped two Tests back and was out for a series. The selectors had rejected him and the same selectors got him back. This guy has always shown in his career, right from his under-15 days, that struggle is his name,” Jadeja said on Sony Sports Network.
“He has had operations on both his knees, it is very difficult after that. This guy kept on doing the difficult tasks and he has so much love for the game that wherever you play him, he doesn’t get out. He is not fond of playing shots but of scoring runs.”
The second Test match between India and Bangladesh will be played at Dhaka from Thursday.
