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Ravichandran Ashwin has recalled nicknaming Cheteshwar Pujara ‘White Walker’ after his resilient 2018-19 Australia tour performance.
Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement (Picture credit: AFP)
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that the 2018-19 tour was a defining moment in Cheteshwar Pujara’s career, adding that he nicknamed the latter White Walker after that series, with a Game of Thrones reference, since it was extremely tough for the opposition to dismiss him.
Pujara started the 2018-19 tour with a sublime century and a half-century at the Adelaide Oval in India’s narrow 31-run victory over Australia.
During the drawn series finale, Pujara played a huge 193-run innings, facing 373 balls in the process.
“The 2018-19 tour of Australia has to be a defining point in Pujara’s career. He had made a double hundred during England’s tour of India in 2012, but the 2018-19 Australia series was a memorable one because the Australian bowlers weren’t able to get him out,” Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
“In the last Test in Sydney, the bowlers literally had to tell Pujara to please get out. Literally, it went there. I gave Pujara a name after that series. We had a good relationship, like we used to pull each other’s legs,” Ashwin said.
“He (Pujara) was pulling my leg on commentary also recently. That is the kind of relationship we have, so the nickname I gave him, inspired by Game of Thrones, was ‘The White Walker,’ Ashwin added.
The former India spinner noted how Pujara’s contributions weren’t highlighted enough and were lost amongst the praise that star cricketers like ace batter Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma received from fans and experts.
“Whenever we talk about Indian cricket, it is easy to talk about Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Even in the past, it was Sachin Tendulkar, I mean, he was an icon, but players like Pujara do not come around quite often,” Ashwin said.
“But we do not talk about them too much. That is a bit of a concern,” the former India spinner added.
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