Pujara and the art of batting in the zone
03-Nov-2014
In England, Cheteshwar Pujara went through a run of innings where he "never really felt I was batting badly or the bowlers were troubling me very much", but still managed only one half-century in five Tests. Trusting his game enough to say such an occurrence is probably "just a once-in-a-career thing", Pujara tells Aditya Iyer of the Indian Express what it means to get into the "zone" while batting.
Zone. It's a word Pujara uses often and uses casually, quite like you and I would say 'and I went into my bathroom'. He pauses when asked about this very spiritual space that a sportsperson slips into when in complete control. But without so much as hemming and hawing, Pujara stabs at an explanation for us mere mortals.
"When you enter this zone, it is less about concentrating and more about forgetting, actually," he says, hoping that he is getting his point across. Wait a minute, more about what?! So he offers to explain again. "When I get there, I forget about the crowd and the noise. And I also forget about the bowlers and their reputations. I forget everything, except the ball. At this point, everything happens on auto-pilot. My backlift, my strokes, my running between the wicket, everything is completely instinctive."
And how rarely does he get into this space, this hallowed zone? "Frequently," he replies, almost instantly. "Almost every time I cross 40. But sometimes as early as 25."