Cheteshwar Pujara will hope to recover his form with the bat in South Africa.© AFP
India batter Cheteshwar Pujara is hoping to recover his form with the bat when the three-match Test series in South Africa starts later this month. India will face the Proteas in three Tests starting with the opening match in Centurion on December 26 before a three-match ODI series. Pujara has been struggling with the bat in recent times, having failed to score a century since 2019. The three Tests in South Africa will provide Pujara the opportunity to recover his fine touch and shut his critics up. The 33-year-old batter has been sweating it out in practice ahead of the upcoming series.
Taking to social media platform Koo on Sunday, Pujara shared pictures of him batting in the nets.
“Getting into the groove,” he wrote in the text accompanying the pictures.
Meanwhile, Pujara backed the Indian bowlers to deliver for the visitors in the upcoming South Africa series.
“Our fast bowlers have been the difference between the two sides whenever we have played abroad. If you look at the Australia series, even if you look at the England series, we have done exceptionally well as a bowling unit and I am sure that will be the case even in South Africa,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Pujara as saying.
“Our fast bowlers are our strength and I hope that they will be able to utilise these conditions and give us 20 wickets in every Test match,” he added.
India recently defeated New Zealand in the Test series 1-0 and Pujara feels this is the best opportunity for the Indian squad to clinch the series in South Africa.
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“The good thing is we played a couple of Test matches in India. So most of the guys are in touch, and when it comes to preparation, the support staff has been excellent. They have been supporting us well and we have five or six days more before we head into the first Test,” said Pujara.
(With ANI inputs)
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