30 August,2015 09:07 AM IST | | PTI
Cheteshwar Pujara, who rescued India with a comeback ton against Sri Lanka on Saturday, is grateful to India ‘A’ coach Dravid for boosting his confidence
Colombo: Relieved after notching up his first hundred in close to two years, Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Saturday thanked India 'A' team coach Rahul Dravid for reassuring him that there was nothing wrong with his technique during the prolonged lean patch.
India's Cheteshwar Pujara keeps his eye on the ball as it pierces the field against Sri Lanka at the SSC ground in Colombo on Saturday. PIC/AFP
Pujara, who made a grand comeback to the playing XI by scoring an unbeaten 135, had spent quality time with Dravid last month while playing against Australia 'A' in Chennai.
Rahul Dravid
'No technique issues'
"The best thing came out of Rahul Dravid when I was playing with India 'A' team. He said that there is nothing wrong with my technique. He watched me bat in the nets and told me that there is a big one coming very soon, maybe in Sri Lanka or even in the India 'A' game so that gave me lot of confidence," Pujara told mediapersons on Saturday.
"He (Dravid) felt that overall, I was batting really well during England and Australia tours. It's just that I didn't convert the 30s or 40s into a big one. So I decided to stick to what I do." Pujara said that he decided to keep things simple on Saturday even when wickets fell at the other end.
"I thought that if I think about all the stuff that had been happening, that I am not batting at my regular position and this is the last opportunity that might be there and so on, I wouldn't be able to go and perform to the best of my abilities," said the Rajkot-born player.
