Cheteshwar and Dad
The pillar behind Cheteshwar Pujara's success is his father Arvind, also his lifelong coach and best friend
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
The pillar behind Cheteshwar Pujara's success is his father Arvind, also his lifelong coach and best friend. Young Cheteshwar experienced emotional hardship at an early age when he lost his mother to cancer. Cricket was to be the best distraction and father and son rallied through the tough years. About a year ago, Arvind himself had a close call with a heart attack but pulled through. Sandeep Dwivedi, in Indian Express, caught up with them at their plush new Rajkot home.
And after a brief philosophical pause, he adds looking around, “also secondary are the add-ons that come with success”. Despite the two cars parked outside, the television with the dimensions of a school blackboard and the well-equipped kitchen that’s big enough to house a family, there is a certain emptiness in the house that saddens him.
“My wife Reena could never enjoy this big airy kitchen. But the food she cooked in our crammed kitchen tasted far better. This back-foot and front-foot play and technique, anybody can teach a child but my son’s strength is the control he has over his mind. And that’s my wife’s contribution. I am a restless person, Cheteshwar’s temperament comes from his mother. My role is overrated,” he says.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo