Ravi Shastri reserves special praise for Cheteshwar Pujara, says middle-order batsman is batting like dream

New Delhi: The recent series whitewash in Sri Lanka by the Virat Kohli-led outfit helped India consolidate their position as world's top team. The series also witnessed the usual suspects performing, creating records galore. Of those, some got the recognition they deserved, while others continue to be the unsung heroes.

However, a brimming Ravi Shastri, team's head coach, while hailing team's collective effort picked one individual for special praise. And he was Cheteshwar Pujara. The middle order batsman has been the mainstay of Indian batting for some good years, but the quality and temperament he brings into the line-up has been exceptional.

"Cheteshwar has been batting like a dream and he's in a zone where he has set his targets going forward," Shastri was quoted as saying by TOI.

In the three-match Test series, Pujara scored 309 runs at an average of 77.25 with a strike rate of 54.69. He also hit two hundreds. His was a perfect foil to other flambouyant top-order batsmen, like Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli.

Earlier, Kohli had hailed Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, another middle-order batsman with steely resolve and ice ice-cool temperament, as India's two "two best Test batsmen". But the skipper admitted that he would give Pujara more credit as he is a dedicated Test player.

"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," the skipper had added.

With the Test engagement in Lanka over, Pujara will reportedly keep himself busy with county stints. The Worcestershire player is expected to turn up for the match against Gloucestershire, which starts on August 28.

Pujara, after making his India debut in a Test match against Australia in 2010, has played 51 Tests and five ODIs, scoring 4107 and 51 runs respectively.