Ahead of his 100th Test, India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara got felicitated at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. “It is an honour to receive this cap from you (Sunil Gavaskar), legends like you have inspired me (On getting the cap from Sunny G). I wanted to play for India as a youngster but I never thought I’d get to 100 Test matches. Test cricket is the ultimate format for me, it challenges you just like life. To all the youngsters, I’d encourage y’all to work hard to play Test cricket for India. I’d like to thank my wife, my family, everyone in BCCI and all my teammates who’ve supported me throughout this journey, ” Pujara said.
In order to honour Pujara, a special cap was presented to him. Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was elated and said, ”When we are playing as kids growing up, we all love whether we’re playing at home or down in the streets in the maidans. We’re all dreaming of playing for India. When we do eventually play for India, it’s an unbelievable feeling. And we want to do that over and over and again, to be able to do that you need a lot of hard work. That you have the determination that you have set self-belief to be able to lift yourself up from the lean periods and then still focus on getting the job done.”
“When you go out to bat, it looks as if you’re not just taking the bat with you but you’re taking the flag with you. When you put your body on the line for, you’ve taken the blows, you’ve got the bowlers earn your wicket. Every single run you have scored has been a big-big plus as far as India is concerned.”
“You’ve been a role model for what hard work and self belief and dreams can do. So many, many congratulations on getting to the 100th Test match. Welcome to the 100 Test match club. I wish and pray that you become the first Indian to score a big 100 in your 100th Test match, and lay the foundation for yet another win in Delhi, former batting legend said.
Rohit Sharma’s men gave a guard of honour to Cheteshwar Pujara ahead of the second Test against Australia.