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New Delhi, Cheteshwar Pujara is confident that the upcoming Sri Lanka series will give him a “good opportunity” to prepare for next year’s tour of South Africa.
“Obviously, next year’s South Africa series is something that is there at the back of my mind. The Sri Lanka series will be a good opportunity to prepare for the South Africa assignment. I am confident of doing well,” Pujara said.
Asked if he had started preparing for the South Africa series, which starts with the first Test in Cape Town on January 6, Pujara said: “The main preparation will certainly start closer to the series. But I believe once we assemble to play the Test series against Sri Lanka, there will be serious discussions on the South Africa tour. The strategies and plans will be in place.”
Asked if he is doing some special preparations for the bouncy pitches of South Africa, Pujara replied: “Like every series, I will be doing my own homework. There are a few areas that I will like to work in the nets before the series. Those are very specific things but it will be unfair to reveal them as that’s a part of the strategy.”
Pujara had a fantastic outing against Sri Lanka a few months ago with scores of 153 and 133 in the first two Tests at Galle and Colombo. Sri Lanka’s bowling attack wasn’t up to the mark during that series but the Saurashtra right-hander is not getting complacent ahead of the new series.
“I agree that during the last series, Sri Lanka’s bowling attack may not been one of the best but Test runs never come easy,” said the 29-year-old, who has scored 4,107 runs in 51 Tests with 13 hundreds. “You have to fight for every run that you score in longer format. Also every series is a new series. Your intensity does not change according to the opposition you play. Sri Lanka is also an international side and you have to give them the same respect like any other team.”
Recently, Pujara went through a lean patch in first-class cricket — nine successive innings (including four English county matches for Northamptonshire) without a half-century — but he says he wasn’t worried.
“I always knew that a big innings is just round the corner. When you know that you are batting well, you can feel it. It was about one good innings and it came against Jharkhand,” added Pujara.
The 204 against Jharkhand made him the Indian batsman with the highest number of double hundreds (12) in first-class cricket, surpassing Vijay Merchant (11). A few other big names are also behind him, including Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid, all with 10 double centuries.
“Actually, I didn’t know about the record while I was batting. I only came to know about it once the (second) day’s play was over,” Pujara said. “I got a few text messages and came to know that it was a national record. It was a good feeling indeed knowing that there are some great players on that list.”
