India’s Test mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara is all excited to play the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton slated to begin from June 18.
The side had to do some hard work to register a berth in the title clash. After getting bundled out for 36 in the first Test against Australia, losing players due to injuries and being racially abused, the team fought their way back in the four-match series and defeated the Australian side 2-1 away from home.
The Virat Kohl-led side then thumped England 3-1 on home soil to march into the final. Taking a look back at the successful campaign against both the sides, the right-handed batsman hailed the team’s efforts.
“That will be a huge game for all of us because we have worked very hard to reach there. Each Test series was very important for us which has taken us to England for the final. This team has shown that we have got tremendous potential and hopefully, we will do well in the final as we have been doing in Test cricket for a long time,” says Pujara in an exclusive chat with Cricket.com.
The Indian team lifted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the trot (2018 and 2021). Talking about the importance of winning a series in Australia, Pujara admitted that it is a challenging task and also noted that the 2021 win was special considering the lack of experience that most of the players had.
“Any tour of Australia is always a big challenge and very important for us. In that sense, the 2018 win was the most special. And then of course our last series win was also very special because the team was relatively weak as some of the senior players were not there and some of them were injured and not available for all the matches. As a team, it was a huge achievement and personally it was very satisfying,” reflects India’s No.3 in Test cricket.
Kohli and his men will fly to the UK on June 2 where they will first play the WTC final which would be followed by a five-match Test series against England.