Cheteshwar Pujara: I keep telling myself that I know I belong there

Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara believes he still has a lot to offer India’s Test side, even though he confesses that being dropped has sometimes left him frustrated, battling self-doubt and nursing a bruised ego. The veteran of 103 Test caps last represented India at the WTC final in June. He was not picked for the side’s tour of the West Indies, their first campaign of the new WTC cycle.

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On the sidelines of his county stint with Sussex, Cheteshwar Pujara told ‘The Final Word podcast’ –

“There have been ups and downs in the last few years and it tests you as a player because having played say more than 90 Test matches, when I got dropped, I still had to prove myself, I still had to prove that I belonged there. Its a different type of challenge.

“Sometimes you do get frustrated, even if you have to prove yourself after 90 Tests and five-six thousand, whatever number of runs I had scored, its not easy.

Pujara added – “Sometimes it plays around with your ego. Having been successful at the international level for so many years, there are still doubts – are you’re good enough. And if you have to prove yourself again and again, [you wonder] whether it is worth it.

Pujara further said – “I keep telling myself that I know I belong there. I know that the kind of contributions I have made to Indian cricket, I still have a lot to contribute.

Pujara further added –

“I was given an interesting stat some time ago where I was told that whenever I have scored more than 70 or 80 runs for the Indian team, it is about 80% of the times India have gone on to win… or we haven’t lost that particular Test match. So I know if I score runs for the Indian team, most times we are on the winning side.”