IND vs AUS: 'Hazlewood didn't want to see my face' - Cheteshwar Pujara recalls a funny anecdote with the Aussie

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Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has recently expressed relief over Cheteshwar Pujara's absence from the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy series 2024-25. He acknowledged the Indian Test specialist's resilience and effectiveness on previous tours Down Under.

Hazlewood remarked that Pujara is a player who spends quite a lot of time at the crease. The fast bowler also acknowledged the significant impact Pujara has had in grinding down the Australian bowling attack during crucial matches.

The Rajkot-born finished the 2018-19 BGT series as the leading run-scorer with 521 runs in 4 games, laced with three centuries and a fifty, including his gritty 193 at the SCG.

Cheteshwar Pujara recalls a funny anecdote featuring Josh Hazlewood

During a Star Sports Press conference, Pujara was asked to mention a funny anecdote he encountered in the BGT series Down Under. To which, the seasoned cricketer shed light on the anecdote featuring Josh Hazlewood.

"One thing I've heard is that at one point Josh Hazlewood ended up saying in one of the team meetings where. They showed my videos and he ended up saying that I have seen enough of Pujara on the field so I don't want to see any of his videos."

Furthermore, Pujara chipped in with words of advice for the Indian batters to negate short-pitched deliveries. When asked what should be the approach of the Indian batsmen when they encounter short-pitched deliveries, the senior cricketer wanted the Indian batters to understand their strengths in the first place.

"When you are facing short pitch deliveries, you need to know whether you are a good puller. If you are, then you need to take the bowlers on, you need to play that shot. But the most important thing when you are facing short pitch deliveries is we end up playing hook shots which we are not quite capable of, I would say that most of the time on Indian pitches, most of the balls we faced, when we are facing short pitch deliveries are below the shoulder level and when we go to Australia, most of the short pitch deliveries are above the shoulder level," the 36-year-old emphasized the importance of understanding one's strengths before taking on such deliveries.

Stressing the need for control and situational awareness, Pujara said, "As a batter you need to just identify those balls that are the balls which are above my shoulder level or above my head height. Those are the balls which you need to leave, and the other balls which are at shoulder height or below that are the height where you can play your pull shots because most of our batters if you look at the current batting lineup, most of them are aggressive players.

"They like playing that pull shot. But you need to be in control of the ball and that is where you know you need to have both. Sometimes you need to leave the balls, sometimes you need to play the pull shot. So it is about making the right decision when you are at the crease. So you can't have a set goal that, if the first ball is a bouncer, I'm going to play the pull shot. You just need to look at that ball and then make that decision."