"He is more of a grafter"- Aakash Chopra on why Cheteshwar Pujara didn't have a great BGT 2023

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that the pitches offered in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 didn't suit Cheteshwar Pujara's style of play.

Over the years, Pujara has arguably been at his best while facing Australia, but apart from that valiant fifty in Indore, he has nothing more to show.

With only 140 runs in four games, Chopra opined that Pujara is a sort of batter who likes to take his time and play marathon knocks. According to the former cricketer, the pitches that India provided needed flashy players who knew the art of scoring quickly.

In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Aakash Chopra had to say about Cheteshwar Pujara:

"Cheteshwar Pujara didn't have the best of series and I feel such pitches just don't suit his batting. He is more of a grafter who likes to grind the bowlers and score his runs. But on such turning tracks, you need strikers and players who play their shots."

Aakash Chopra further spoke on how he felt about the pitches provided for all four Tests.

"I am personally not impressed with these pitches. The pitch for the third Test was rated poor but the fourth Test pitch wasn't great either. Just 22 wickets in five days. This cannot be rated as a good pitch."

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Aakash Chopra on India's dominance in BGT

India have now won the previous four Border-Gavaskar Trophies, two at home and two on away soil. According to Aakash Chopra, it's a huge statement that India are good enough to dominate Australia in any conditions.

"We have once again won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 and now it just feels like whenever and wherever the BGT happens, we will keep on winning. The pitch for the final Test was a bit of a damp squib. But overall, India achieved their objective of winning the series and have qualified for the WTC final."

India will have a golden opportunity to end their ICC Trophy drought by beating Australia in the WTC final in June 2023.