Virat a great leader, we are fully behind him, says Pujara

Dharamasala , The Indian team looks pretty upset over how skipper Virat Kohli is being attacked by the Australian players, officials and their media. A day after Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, in a radio show, said he wasn’t sure if the Indian skipper could spell ‘sorry’, the Indian team management chose Cheteshwar Pujara to defend Kohli and reiterate that their focus was entirely on the upcoming Test match.
“I think it’s really sad to hear such comments. We fully support Virat, he is one of the great ambassadors of this game,” said Pujara. “I think the focus has shifted somewhere else, which shouldn’t have happened. We are very much focused on the game. He is a great leader, and we are fully supporting him. We are looking forward to the next game and aren’t worried about anything else.”
With Pujara, one of the most mild-mannered players in the team, making it clear that the team was firmly behind Kohli, it becomes more or less clear that the final Test will also be quite a fiery affair. While it is fantastic to see both the teams fight for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy so fiercely, there have been many moments in the series when a sense of propriety was found lacking on both sides. Both the teams have been guilty of fanning the fire and vitiating the atmosphere.
‘Pitch will have bounce’
Like most curators, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) curator Sunil Chauhan loves to make brave statements. “Till date, I’ve never taken any instruction from anyone and I’ve always prepared a wicket keeping the basic nature of this track in mind,” said Chauhan.
“This will be a bouncy wicket, the batsmen who are good with cut and pull will like it. Rohit Sharma got a century in a T20 International at this ground.”
When asked about what he thought of the wicket, Pujara was a little evasive. “It looks like a good wicket. We’ve played a lot of cricket in Dharamsala, and enough first class cricket to know the conditions. So, we will not bother too much about wicket,” he said.