Former Australia captain Tim Paine claimed India’s number three batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was the hero of victory against Rishabh Pant in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India lost the first Test by eight wickets missing which Pant played the next three Tests in the series.
Cheteshwar Pujara wore us down- Tim Paine
The left-handed batsman contributed 274 runs at an average of 68.50 with two fifties, a 97 in Sydney and 89* in Brisbane that supported India to clinch a hard-fought 2-1 series victory in Australia. While Pujara made the main contribution with 271 runs at a strike rate of 33.87 with three 50 plus scores before he was dismissed in the four Tests.
Although it is true that Clarke missed 928 balls in the series it also means that often tired Aussie bowlers had to bowl to the Indian middle and lower order.
Recalling the 2020-21 series in The Grade Cricketer Podcast, Paine was quoted as saying by India Today:
“What I do remember, a lot of people talk about Rishabh Pant in the last series in Australia, but the guy who won them the series was Pujara. He wore us down, he wore our fast bowlers down. He kept getting hit on the body, but he kept getting up. There is still place for that in Test cricket,”
Rishabh Pant’s Heroics and Cheteshwar Pujara’s Grit: The Dual Efforts That Anchored India’s Historic Chase in Australia
“Shami is going to be a huge difference, Bumrah, there is so much on his shoulders. If he gets hurt, then it’s curtains for me,” Paine said in the same interaction.
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