An innings of 72 that changed a life
After Cheteshwar Pujara scored those 72 runs that helped India beat Australia in Bangalore, his story is no longer the heart-wrenching tale about a marathon run-maker’s struggle to make it past the domestic circuit
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
After Cheteshwar Pujara scored those 72 runs that helped India beat Australia in Bangalore, his story is no longer the heart-wrenching tale about a marathon run-maker’s struggle to make it past the domestic circuit. Suddenly everyone wants a piece of him, writes Sandeep Dwivedi in the Indian Express.
Unlike old times, it wasn’t just his father Arvind waiting for him at the airport in the family Maruti [in Rajkot]. He couldn’t just drive off home while narrating to his father — his one and only batting coach since he was four — his cricketing exploits from tours in distant lands. A crowd, a roofless jeep and car cavalcade waited for the 22-year-old at the arrival terminal. After waving to the fans on the street, he rushed off to spend time with friends, family and well-wishers — a bunch that has gradually multiplied since Bangalore. Media requests constantly poured in as Pujara’s home on the city’s outskirts wasn’t out of way anymore.
But while in this sudden swirl, Pujara remembers something that Sachin Tendulkar told him when he was promoted to one drop on the final day of the second Test ... “Humko aapni duniya mein rehna hai (We have to stay in our own world),” Tendulkar told Pujara in middle of the din.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo