Published: Feb 22, 2019, 12:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 22, 2019, 12:14 PM (IST)
It took a long time, almost 12 years, but it has finally come. Cheteshwar Pujara, after playing in his first T20 match in 2007, has finally scored a century in cricket’s shortest format to prove he’s not just a Test specialist.
On Thursday, during Saurashtra’s opening round clash against Railways, Pujara blasted an unbeaten 100 off 61 deliveries while opening the innings. (ALSO READ: Good form in Test cricket can help you bat well in shorter formats – Pujara)
However, during the recent IPL auctions, Pujara has repeatedly being snubbed by the franchisees despite throwing his name among the hopefuls.
Despite that, the 31-year-old has no doubts over his white-ball abilities and is confident that should he continue to bat the way he has been, someone is bound to take notice.
“I think twice for sure (gone unsold). I put my name in because somewhere down the line I am very confident about playing white ball, whether it is ODI or T20. If I am not picked, I am not picked. But with such results, if I can carry on like this, people will start noticing. Even franchises might take notice. If I am still not picked I will carry on doing things I am doing. I don’t want to change anyone’s perceptions,” Pujara told ESPNcricinfo.
During his blistering innings, Pujara struck 14 fours and even cleared the boundary once. His latest exploit comes right after a red-hot form in red-ball cricket that saw him bagging the player-of-the-series award in the four-Test series in Australia before helping Saurashtra enter the Ranji Trophy final.
However, Pujara isn’t here to prove a point to anyone. “I never play to prove a point to someone else. This innings gives me a lot of confidence. Things will get better from here. Once you can trust your game, once you work on something and it pays off, then you know this is a method you can follow,” he said.
