Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 7 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara recalled meeting Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan during his stint with the three-time champions, admitting that meeting him was a “fanboy moment”.
Pujara was speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Cheeky Singles’. The cricketer-turned-broadcaster represented KKR in the 2009/10 IPL season, scoring 122 runs in six innings at an average of 30.50, with a strike rate of 106.08 and a best score of 45*.
Speaking during the show, Pujara noted that while he had a “fanboy moment” while meeting SRK, his focus was overall on the environment created by the franchise, learnings from big players and overall improvement in his game during his short stint in the IPL, having established himself as a red-ball specialist in the coming years.
“I started with KKR. Shah Rukh Khan was the owner there. When I met him for the first time, I definitely had that fanboy moment. But when you think about cricket, you can’t think, ‘Just because Shah Rukh Khan is the owner, I want to stay here.’ You want to be there because of the environment the franchise creates, the opportunity to learn from legendary players, play alongside them, and improve your cricket. That is what matters,” said Pujara.
In 30 IPL matches from 2009 to 2014, Pujara made 390 runs in 22 innings at an average of 20.52, with a strike rate of 99.74 and a half-century to his name. He also played for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the coming seasons. He was a part of the 2021 IPL-winning Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad, having not played a single game.
Coming to his CSK days, Pujara recalled how Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood had jokingly refused to bowl in the nets to him after having bowled a lot to him during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018 and 2021, with the batter tiring out Aussie bowlers in both of the series and playing a crucial role in India’s back-to-back triumphs.
“During the Australia series in 2018 and 2021, I played a lot against Josh Hazlewood. Then I got picked by CSK. The first time I went to bat in the nets, Hazlewood refused to bowl to me. He said, ‘I won’t bowl to him.’ Even though he was my teammate, he refused. He joked that he had bowled to me far too much over the previous few months before the IPL, so he was not going to bowl to me again. He was kidding, but he actually did not bowl to me,” recalled the batter.
Pujara announced his retirement from international cricket last year, with 7,195 runs in 103 Tests for India at an average of 43.60, with 19 centuries and 35 fifties. He also represented India in five ODIs, scoring 51 runs. (ANI)
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