cricket

Updated: Feb 14, 2019 11:00 IST

Cheteshwar Pujara was the standout performer for India during their Test series against Australia earlier this year and the Saurashtra batsman finished the series with 521 runs. With three centuries and one fifty, he looked quite comfortable against the Aussie bowlers and he even surpassed Rahul Dravid’s record of 1203 balls in 2003-04 series to become the Indian cricketer to face the most number of balls in a Test series in Australia.

While the series witnessed a number of brilliant performances, it also became quite famous because of the sledging incidents that took place between the players from both sides. In a recent interview, Pujara revealed his favourite sledging moment from the Test series Down Under.

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“There were many instances but I remember the first Test. Nathan Lyon and Tim Paine tried to sledge me. They almost felt that the game was over when we were 40 for four, they thought that we’ll be bowled out for 150-160. And even later on, I think in the third or fourth Test, they were trying to sledge me but at the same time, they started laughing in the end. Lyon came and told me: ‘Aren’t you bored of batting now? You’ve scored so many runs’,” Pujara said in an interview with Times of India.

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However, when asked about the best sledge he ever received, the Saurashtra batsman said that it was during the Australian tour of India in 2017 when he was told that the opponents will ‘ask for wheelchairs’ for him.

“Yes (when asked whether Lyon’s sledge was the best). I never thought that he’ll say such a thing. And then when we were playing against Australia in the third Test in Ranchi in 2017, one of the players came and told me ‘Now if you don’t get out, we’ll have to ask for wheelchairs.’ I was batting on 170-plus. That’s the best sledge I remember from an Aussie player,” he said.