'It hurts me when people call Cheteshwar Pujara slow' - Dilip Doshi backs batsman to play ODIs

India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara has played merely five ODIs since making his debut in 2013. But former India left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi has said tha he would like to have Cheteshwar Pujara if he were to pick an ODI team.

Doshi said he would ask Cheteshwar Pujara to simply hold one end up as the second fiddle and remain in the middle till the end of the innings.

“I will not drop a guy like Pujara from my ODI team. I will ask him to hold one end and keep on batting till the 50th over and I think he is quite capable of it,” said Doshi in a chat with Playwrite Foundation.

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Cheteshwar Pujara is considered too slow for ODIs

At No. 3, Pujara is among the finest batsmen to have played Test cricket. His temperament gives India both balance and confidence on overseas tours.

But Cheteshwar Pujara has got little to no opportunities in white-ball cricket. As per popular opinion, he is too slow for ODI cricket.

“It hurts me when people call a high-class batsman such Cheteshwar Pujara as too slow,” added Doshi, who played 33 Tests and 15 ODIs for India.

Cheteshwar Pujara has played 77 Test matches, in which he averages 48. In the five 50-over games that he has played, he averages only 10.

Doshi also went on to talk about the emergence of T20 cricket, while saying that the real challenge will always lie in red-ball cricket.

“The emergence of T20 cricket has changed the game completely. I believe every good club cricketer can perform in T20 cricket. For me, Test cricket is a broader canvas. I think it is the lack of application among the modern-day batsmen and that’s the reason they struggle against quality spinners,” said Doshi.