Talismanic India batter Cheteshwar Pujara opened up on playing alongside premier Australian star Steve Smith for Sussex in County Cricket. Pujara has been leading the Sussex side this season and has already scored two centuries in three matches. While Smith will join Sussex for the three matches ahead of the mega World Test Championship Final between India and Australia starting from June 7 at the Oval, England.
Pujara, who joined Sussex last year, made an enormous impact by scoring 1094 runs County Championship runs, including a record-breaking three double centuries and finished the season with an average of 109.4 and was named the captain for the ongoing season.
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The Indian Test specialists said the players in the squad are excited to have Smith in the dressing room and will look to learn from him.
“He (Smith) is a great influence to have in the team and the guys will be looking forward to having him in the dressing room and will try and have a chat to him and learn from him, just to see how he prepares as he has a lot of experience,” Pujara told Sussex Cricket.
Talking highly of Smith, Pujara said that he has a lot of knowledge about the game. Smith is often regarded as one of the brightest minds in world cricket.
“We are all looking forward to having him here and sharing his experience as he has a lot of knowledge about the game and it will be nice to have his input,” Pujara said.
Both Pujara and Smith bat at the number 3 spot for their national side in Test cricket and have been the backbone of their respective line-up for almost a decade now. The 35-year-old also talked about his equation with Smith against whom he has played a lot of cricket.
We have spoken, but most of the time we have played against each other. “It is never for the same team, so it will be exciting and I will try and get his thoughts, try and know him a little better,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the Indian batter admitted that playing with Smith will be a mixed feeling as they both will clash against each other final of WTC.
“We will be playing WTC final (against each other), so it will be mixed feelings. On the field we always have good battles, but off the field we are good friends,” he added.
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