Rahul Dravid hails Pujara ahead of his 100th Test match
Pujara is all set to play in the 100th Test of his career at Delhi and the head coach was all praise for the seasoned campaigner.
"To play 100 Tests is a great achievement for any cricketer. Yes, you need talent but you need lot of other things. It's about longevity. Your fitness, your resilience, ability to handle success and failure," Dravid said.
"Everyone sees ups and downs in this long journey. You need to face and overcome these. You need to play different kinds of bowling, face various questions on and off the field. Pujara has taken at least 13-14 years to get here, its a tribute to his skill and so many other things like I have mentioned.
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"He’s a very popular player, and everyone’s happy that he's playing 100 Tests. We hope that he continues performing well for India. Over the last decade, Pujara has played important innings for the nation, and has won India games as well as series."
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer, who was added to the squad for the second Test will walk straight into the playing XI "if he's fit", according to Dravid.
Iyer last featured in India colours last month, when he played in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He has since missed international action due to a back injury. But after undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), the right-hander was added to the India squad for the second Test.
Talking about Iyer’s chances for the Delhi Test, the head coach said that if the team management felt that the middle-order batter was ready for the stress of a five-day game, then he’d make it back to the Test side.
“It’s always great to have someone back from injury. We never like to lose people from injury. It's not nice for us as a team, it’s not nice for the individual,” Dravid said.
“I'm glad that he is back and fit. We'll take a call after a couple of days of training. He’s had a long session today, long training today. We will assess it tomorrow as well once he comes out for a light hit and see how he feels in the evening.
"If he is fit and ready to go and take the load of five days of a Test match, then without a doubt his performances mean that he will walk straight into the side.”
Iyer has been a consistent performer for the Test side since making his debut in November 2021. He has scored 624 runs at an average of 56.72, with a century and five half-centuries to his name.
Talking further on Iyer's abilities, Dravid was impressed with the player’s temperament.
“Shreyas has played well against spin but what really stood out is his temperament. We've been in quite a few pressure situations with Shreyas around, right from his first Test in Kanpur.
"Every time we’ve been in a pressure situation, he and Rishabh and Jadeja have been the ones bailing us out and playing those critical knocks. His temperament in Bangladesh when we were under pressure, is something that is a really good sign. At this level, what counts is your ability to deal with those pressure situations.”
Dravid added that the team management believed in valuing the contributions of past performers.
“Without it being on stone and without it being a rule, we certainly value contributions of people who’ve been there and if they missed out due to an injury, then they deserve the right to come back in if they’ve performed, irrespective of what has happened during the time that they have been injured.
That’s certainly the outlook of team management.”