• Home
  • Player Stories
  • When Cheteshwar Pujaras Resilience Haunted Rohit Sharmas Mumbai In Junior Cricket

When Cheteshwar Pujara's Resilience Haunted Rohit Sharma's Mumbai In Junior Cricket

Akshita Patel

Rohit Sharma on old rivalry with Cheteshwar Pujara [Source: @xtratimeindia/X.com]Rohit Sharma on old rivalry with Cheteshwar Pujara [Source: @xtratimeindia/X.com]

India’s ODI captain, Rohit Sharma, recently shared some interesting stories from his early cricketing days, especially about playing against Cheteshwar Pujara. Speaking at the launch of “The Diary of a Cricketer’s Wife” – a book written by Pujara’s wife, Puja Pujara, Rohit spoke about how difficult it was to get rid of Pujara even in their junior cricket days.

When Rohit Sharma Conspired Against Pujara In Junior Days

Rohit Sharma, who played for Mumbai in age-group cricket, remembered how his team would spend hours discussing plans to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara. 

“I still remember, team meetings only revolved around him (on) how to get him out, and if we don't get him out, probably we'd lose the game,” Rohit told media.

With his strong defence and persistence at the crease, Pujara tended to bat for two or three days, exhausting bowlers. Rohit Sharma joked that by the time the match ended, his skin would be so tanned from fielding in the sun that his mother would barely recognise him. 

“All I remember is that when I used to go to the ground, when I was 14-years-old, and when I came back in the evening, the colour of my face would be completely different. Because he used to bat all day and we used to field in the sun for (even) 2-3 days."

"I still remember that my mother asked me a couple of times that when you go to play from home, you look different and when you come home, after a week or 10 days, you look different. I would say, ‘mom, what do I do? There's a batsman by the name of Cheteshwar Pujara. He's been batting for three days'... so that is the first impression that we had of him,” Rohit added.

All these tales speak of the grit and determination Pujara exhibited as even a young player, qualities that assisted him in scoring more than 7,000 runs in Test cricket for India, including 19 centuries.

Today, Rohit Sharma stands retired from the Test format, and Cheteshwar Pujara, despite being out of the team for several years now, is yet to officially call it quits.