Cheteshwar Pujara: My dream is to win WTC Final

On the cusp of becoming the 13th Indian to reach the 100Test milestone at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here today as India take on Australia in the second Test match Cheteshwar Pujara today talked about the various challenges he had faced during his long career his most notable knocks and the difficulties in playing only the longest format of the gameHe also declared that while he was ldquoexcitedrdquo in attaining the coveted landmark his dream was to be part of the squad that qualify for the final and then lifts the World Test Championship in JuneldquoI am glad to be playing my 100th Test At the same time we are in the middle of an important series So hopefully we win this Test move on and win another Test which will ensure we qualify for the WTC Finals Yes my dream is to win that WTC Final for the Indian team Hopefully once we qualify wersquoll look towards thatrdquo Pujara 35 told reporters on the eve of reaching his milestone The Rajkotborn batsman also recalled the way he had fought his way back after being left out of the Test series against Sri Lanka last yearldquoIt was challenging I started playing county cricket for Sussex thatrsquos when I started scoring runs and found my rhythm backRuns got him backldquoThen when I started scoring runs I knew I would be picked in the Indian team again I was ready when I got the opportunity to play that oneoff Test in England Birmingham in 2022 because I had played enough firstclass games for Sussex and scored runs that gave me a lot of confidencerdquoThe knocks he mentioned as special were his debut second innings essay of 72 in Bangalore against Australia in 2010 92 in the second innings at Bangalore in March 2013 153 his debut overseas ton out of 19 overall in Johannesburg against South Africa in December of 2013 the second innings 123 for a winning cause against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 2018 and the brave 56 when he took blows from the fast bowlers on his body in January 2021 a game that India won to clinch the seriesWhite ball challenge He conceded the difficulty in playing only one format of the game at the international level while remarking he has added a few shots to his repertoire by playing in whiteball cricket for Sussex and home association SaurashtraldquoIt is challenging If you look at the current schedule on average we play about nine Tests When you play one series and go back home unless yoursquore playing firstclass cricket yoursquore mostly just sitting at home and watching cricket on televisionldquoThatrsquos the most important part for a Test cricketer to keep challenging yourself to keep training I felt during COVID when we didnrsquot have firstclass cricket it was the most challenging time being a Test cricketer I was just sitting at home practising and just waiting for Tests to happen Itrsquos important for a Test cricketer to keep playing firstclass cricket It is challenging to be a oneformat player but it is important to keep motivating yourselfldquoIn whiteball cricket when I had played for Saurashtra and Sussex I have tried playing a few shots I have tried using the sweep shot against fast bowlers the paddle and and a few reverse sweeps as well I have had to open my mindset because when I want to implement a few shots in Test cricket you are a bit more flexible and a bit more openminded towards trying things out That has helped me be successful even in Bangladesh where I had to play a few shots to accelerate the scoringrdquoTroublesome bowlersHe also mentioned James Anderson in English conditions Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in South Africa and Pat Cummins in Australia as some of the toughest bowlers he had come across in his illustrious career