Cheteshwar Pujara says ‘I cannot replace Rahul Dravid’

Cheteshwar Pujara has collected plenty of praise following his wonderful ton in the opening Test against New Zealand, but feels that it is not appropriate to suggest that he can fill-in the boots of a legend such as Rahul Dravid.

The 24-year-old played the best knock of his career, scoring a splendid innings of 159 runs in the first innings of the match. Coming back into the side after more than one and a half year, Pujara was under tremendous pressure, but kept his cool.

He batted superbly to lay a solid foundation for a big total. Dravid served India for many years before deciding to retire from international cricket earlier this year. A lot of cricket pundits have termed Pujara as a perfect replacement, but the young man
himself does not want to be compared with the legendary batsman.

"I don’t think I can replace Rahul Dravid because he is such a legend. He has more than 10,000 runs in both the formats. It’s impossible to replace him," Pujara said in the post-match press conference on Thursday.

"I knew I could bat at No 3. So my preparation was up to the mark. I played at No 3 for Saurashtra. At times I opened for my employers Indian Oil Corporation. So I have enough experience batting up the order. I did not have to worry about anything. At domestic
level, I batted up the order at No 3 and 4 so it made a difference," he added.

On his brilliant show with the bat, Pujara revealed that it was quite satisfying to get his maiden hundred. Dedicating his century to his father, the right-hander explained that taking India to 400-run mark in the first innings is the primary objective.

He shared, "I’m very thankful to him. I would like to dedicate this to my father. He has been working with me since I was a child. I would like to dedicate this to my father and my mother. I think the first target is to put on 400 on the board."

"I had injury twice. I was out of the game for almost a year. It’s been a frustrating time for me and my family. Somewhere in my heart I knew that I would make a comeback in the game I love the most.”

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Aug 24 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry