Cheteshwar Pujara sees Duleep Trophy as a good preparation for New Zealand series

Cheteshwar Pujara thinks the Duleep Trophy is a perfect preparation for the upcoming New Zealand test series. In the recently concluded Duleep Trophy final, the Saurashtra hitman scored an unbeaten 256 runs helping his side India Blue to a comfortable 355 runs win over India Red at the Greater Noida Sports Complex.

“It was a good preparation for the New Zealand series and I'm looking forward to it," said Pujara. “I like to compete and there is always a price on my wicket. I always feel when I'm set, I have to score big runs and help the team,” he added.

Scoring 166 and 31 in the previous match, Pujara was awarded the Man of the Match. He feels that scoring big runs has been a habit for him since childhood.

Moreover, on the recently included Pink ball initiative, the right-handed batsman said, “I enjoyed playing the pink ball, but there are challenges, especially under lights when it is hard to pick the googly.”

Hopefully, Pujara can carry this form into international cricket: Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, the winning captain was happy about Pujara’s performance throughout the match. “I thought when you win the toss and someone gets a 250, it's fantastic, hopefully, he can carry this form into international cricket,” the captain said.

Gambhir also feels that in the longer formats of the game, making a good start is important. "It's all about contributing, opening the batting is very important to me. I have always maintained that in a four-day or a five-day game, making a good start is important," he said.

The Duleep Trophy was considered to be scrapped out from the domestic cricket calendar, not long before it was reintroduced.

“I think I have always felt that's the way the game is meant to be played. I have seen captains say in the past that the Duleep Trophy is about individuals,” said Gambhir.

"The most important culture is winning. It's always about winning and not about individual performances. There is no better feeling than winning and getting into a dressing room because a winning dressing room is a happy dressing room," he further added.

According to the India Red captain Yuvraj Singh, losing the toss played a huge role in the final. “Since we lost the toss, we did not really bowl well, bowled short and dropped catches as well,” said Singh.

Yuvraj also praised the India Blue bowlers Ravindra Jadeja and Pankaj Singh for their bowling display and also feels that the Pink ball has been a mystery in the Duleep Trophy as it did not swing as expected.