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My time will come too, says Pujara

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Pujara has a knack of scoring big and has done just about anything that you’d expect from a contender gunning for a place in the national team — close to 2000 runs in the previous two first-class seasons, including seven centuries one of them a triple; More... My time will come too, says Pujara Sunit Kaul New Delhi Nov. 30: Moments after making it to the India team for the one-day series against Sri Lanka early this year, an ecstatic Ravindra Jadeja called up his coach, telling him that he had fulfilled the promise made to his family, especially to his dying mother, Lata, couple of years ago. The next person he rang up was Saurashtra statemate Cheteshwar Pujara, expressing his sympathy for not making it to the team. As Jadeja put it later to this newspaper: "I thought Pujara would get into the team before me. With so many runs under his belt for Saurashtra, he had to get it." Pujara has a knack of scoring big and has done just about anything that you’d expect from a contender gunning for a place in the national team — close to 2000 runs in the previous two first-class seasons, including seven centuries one of them a triple; top-scorer in the Ranji season last year, and back-to-back triple hundreds in the Under-22 CK Nayudu Trophy. A national call-up has still been elusive, but the 21-year-old hasn’t given up hope. "It’s very tough to break into the side with so many big names, but yeah I was expecting to at least be considered as someone on the fringe. I haven’t given up hope though, I will keep trying," said Pujara on Monday. A freak injury didn’t help his cause. Picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for the Indian Premier League’s second season in South Africa, he injured his knee a day before the side’s opening match and sat out the event. Back after an injury lay-off of seven months, Pujara has renewed his quest. He hit a double ton in his first competitive game on comeback — an unbeaten 204 in quick time against Maharashtra in Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy Super League game last week. "There was some criticism that I played too slowly. I put in a lot of work to improve that aspect of my game, and I now play a lot more shots than I used to. Last season, my strike rate was just over 72, up from 55 a season before that." Like Jadeja, he too has lost his mother, the latter losing her battle with breast cancer a few years ago. He bounced back to emerge the top run-getter in the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2006, scoring more than Rohit Sharma among others. While Rohit made it to the ODI team, Pujara didn’t. Domestic toil has toughened him, and he exudes an incredible amount of self-belief when talking about his future. "Runs is what will get me into the India team, and I know how to score them. My time will come," he said.

ViruRulez Newbie

ViruRulez

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Iska bhi number aayega. But abhi team me batsman ka opening nahi bacha. There is already too much fight for the 7th spot and rest all spots are filled up at least in ODIs. After Dravid's retirement, a test spot might open. Also, Sachin, Laxman etc. will also retire after some years and then these young kids will get chance.

Ram Newbie

Ram

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This lad seems one for the keeps. We should certainly groom him and induct him into the national test side in a phased manner so that he is not consumed when the moment finally arrives. I like what they’re doing with Vijay, he may not be playing a lot of matches, but he has been traveling around with the team a lot, which itself is a great educational process. They should probably follow something similar to that for Pujara too. Maybe they can get him in the reserves for the upcoming B’desh series. And unlike someone like Kaif (who I consider to still be a genuine test prospect), Pujara has time on its hands and it wont be long before his turn arrives. Dravid is 36, so is Sachin. VVS is 34. So, there are potentially 2 places in the middle-order that are up for grabs in the next 18-36 months (He can forget about Sachin’s spot though. Sach is capable of playing till the time his age is equal to Bradman’s average :D)

Karan114 Newbie

Karan114

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I dont think Murali Vijay will be a super batter. He has limited talents like Kaif' date=' Karthik..etc etc...[/quote'] Personally, I have been very impressed with him whenever I have seen him bat. Looks a correct player and of late has started opening up with plenty of shots as well. The way he responded to the sudden call up at Nagpur last year against a decent Aussie attack showed that he has a good temperament as well. Let's see how he goes tomorrow against the Lankans. As for Kaif, I think he was treated very harshly after his innings against England at Nagpur 2006 and decent tour of West Indies, he has also become more consistent at the domestic level. Somehow his ODI failures (which he is not suited to at all) seem to have ended his Test career.
King Tendulkar Newbie

King Tendulkar

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I dont think Murali Vijay will be a super batter. He has limited talents like Kaif' date=' Karthik..etc etc...[/quote'] Disagree. Vijay to me looks a hot propspect. Will score ton against lankans! Karthik is also very talented, great ability. As for Kaif>>> Well my thoughts on him are well documented. Lets just say I agree with you and some!
saneindian Enthusiast

saneindian

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Pujara needs to look no further than his idol Dravid. Dravid in his first 6 seasons in domestic cricket before making his India debut had the stats as: 1990-91 216 runs@108 1 100 1991-92 434 runs@49 2 100s 1992-93 670 runs@61 1 100 1993-94 846 runs@53 2 100s 1994-95 1068 runs@60 3 100s 1995-96 968runs@81 5 100s A total of 4200 runs@58 in 6 years Dravid after making his India debut toured Eng and SA in his first year in intl cricket. India play WI, Eng and Aus away from home within one year after the 2011 WC. Pujara has to keep piling on the mountain of runs till then and he will be perfectly ready for a long haul in international cricket. By then he will be 23 yrs old, the perfect age for a batsman to make his international debut unless you are a Sachin Tendulkar.

chinnamama Newbie

chinnamama

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Pujara was injured in last IPL so many people didnt know him even though he has made loads of runs in domestic cricket i guess IPL 3 will be his ticket to the India team as still 2-3 places are not fixed

Show_stopper Newbie

Show_stopper

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Pujara was injured in last IPL so many people didnt know him even though he has made loads of runs in domestic cricket i guess IPL 3 will be his ticket to the India team as still 2-3 places are not fixed
Oh rly? In the batting department? #7 spot is the only one that is up for grabs actually.

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