New Delhi: Cheteshwar Pujara's rise as a Test cricketer in the recent past has been phenomenal. While the format still remains underappreciated amongst fans, Gautam Gambhir is of the opnion that Pujara could well be an even more consistent batsman than Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan.
In an interview with DNA, Gambhir asserted that the longer format of the game doesn't get the respect and importance it deserves, which is one of the key reasons behind Pujara's talent not being valued as much as Kohli's or Dhawan's.
“We don't give too much importance to Test cricket, and that is the reason. It is all about white-ball cricket and what people do in ODIs and T20s. But yes, when it comes to red-ball cricket, he is right at the top. Maybe far more consistent than Kohli or Dhawan,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by DNA.
“Look, one thing which is really important to note is that he's playing only one form of the game. He can actually keep his mind pretty stable while playing and preparing only for five-day cricket. Had he been playing One-Dayers and T20Is as well, it would've been much more difficult for him, because sometimes you have to change your mindset.
When you're not scoring runs in One-Day cricket, you go into a Test series not with the same confidence. But when you're playing just one format, it is easier to be consistent than someone who is playing all three formats,” the southpaw added.
Gambhir also put light on how Pujara manages to get runs evertime he comes out to bat.
“He's a quality player, no doubt about that, but playing only one format definitely goes in his favour. And also playing county cricket ensures that his focus is always on red-ball cricket. It keeps you in that frame of mind of playing four-day cricket and red-ball cricket as well, which is of a lot of help when you go into a Test match. You don't get enough red-ball cricket in India, especially when the IPL (Indian Premier League) is on.
And, India plays a lot of white-ball cricket. So, the only way you can get into that zone is either play county cricket or keep preparing with the red ball. But the best preparation is going to county and getting four-day matches, also under difficult conditions because in England the ball does a lot of things. So from county cricket when you come to Sri Lankan conditions, it always gets easier,” Gambhir said.
Earlier, Kohli showered praise on Pujara and Rahane's performance in Test cricket, calling the former the best batsman in this format for the Indian cricket team.
"Pujara and Ajinkya are our two best Test batsmen, especially in the middle order. They've been doing so well consistently. Pujara, I would give him more credit because he only plays one format for India. And to be able to have that hunger and passion day in day out, working hard on his game, coming out and having those consistent performances takes a lot of mental strength," Kohli said.
"And he's a guy with a lot of mental strength. He obviously has the game. He knows how to score runs, which is the most important thing. He has evolved massively as a cricketer since then.
"All of us have, but Pujara's game has gone to another level. If you see last season, continuing now, he's got about 1500 runs which is outstanding. All credit goes to how hard he's works on the game, and how he thinks about his game as well," he had added.
