Cheteshwar Pujara scored a brilliant century in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy game against Karnataka. He helped Saurashtra chase down a challenging target and his ton in the fourth innings of the game was at the heart of his team’s fantastic victory in Bangalore.
He was at the receiving end of booing, however, in the aftermath of the game for not walking off after nicking the ball to the keeper off R Vinay Kuma in second innings of Saurashtra’s innings.
Despite that, his fellow Saurashtra teammate Jaydev Unadkat hailed him for the kind of influence he has on the team.
Unadkat was quoted as saying by the PTI, “I have been saying this since the Lucknow game (quarter-final against Uttar Pradesh), we cannot have (someone) with a better influence than him (Pujara) in the team. He has been the pillar for India now, like he has been for Saurashtra for a long period of time.
“We are fortunate to have him in the team, at the moment, in the knock-out stage and looking forward for one more performance. But having said that it is not just (about) him, all the guys are playing their best game. During knock-outs, away from home, you need everyone to step up and it can’t be one or two guys, so that’s what we have been doing in the last two games.”