Struggles on England tour will make Cheteshwar a better player, says his father

New Delhi: Cheteshwar Pujara may not have got a big score in the ongoing Test series against England but his father and coach Arvind Pujara believes that this “learning experience” will only make his son a better player in the coming days.

“This England series is a learning experience for Cheteshwar. The pitches, the condition and the quality of attack are all from the top drawer. Any batsmen would find these conditions challenging but he would learn a lot of things from this tour,” Pujara senior told PTI from Rajkot today.

Having coached his son since he had held a cricket bat in hand, the former Saurashtra Ranji Trophy player knows his game like the back of his hand but he feels that with Duncan Fletcher around, he need not worry about any technical problem.

“Duncan Fletcher is a superb coach. He is the best person to guide Cheteshwar at the moment. It will not be fair on my part to say what kind of tehnical discussions both have had,” the father said.

But having played the game and coached Cheteshwar, does he find any problem with his batting, and Pujara senior replied, “I wouldn’t say problem but Cheteshwar needs to work hard on countering sharp swinging deliveries.

“Swinging deliveries are not always a problem but do we regularly play in these conditions where there is so much of bounce as well sharp swing. Look, how much swing a seasoned bowler like Anderson is getting. One needs to play the ball late and eyes should always be on bowler’s release. You need to pick up the direction of the swing early,” said the former wicketkeeper.

Pujara senior said that the difference between South Africa and England has been the conditions which has led to balls swinging prodigiously.

“In South Africa, there is bounce but in England, the climatic conditions leads to the kind of swing that bowlers are getting. Even if we prepare bouncy pitches in India, we can’t create an atmosphere where the deliveries will swing so much. These are pressures of international cricket and one needs to adapt quickly. But full credit to the England bowlers for the areas that they have bowled,” he said.

PTI