Cheteshwar Pujara can be tried in shorter format: Sunil Gavaskar

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar today said that young Cheteshwar Pujara has got his basics right and the Saurashtra batsman could be tried in limited overs of cricket.

"Something that certainly can be given a try, because he has got the basics right. If you have the basics right then expanding your shot-making capabilities is not so much of a problem," Gavaskar said when asked about Cheteshwar Pujara scoring at a faster rate than Virender Sehwag during India's chase on the final day of the first Test against England here today.

"You have the licence to play lot more shots in the limited overs cricket than in Test cricket. It is just a matter of confidence. He has been in the IPL teams... he hasn't really got an opening. Even there he bats down the order, where he has got to come in and start hitting the ball in the air soon enough. That is not something that he is comfortable with," he said.

"What he showed by hitting the ball down the ground and getting boundaries, he can also score at a fast pace," Gavaskar said about Cheteshwar Pujara who was adjudged player-of-the-match for his unbeaten innings of 206 and 41 in the series opener against England which India won comfortably by nine wickets.

Asked whether the Indians were able to exploit the conditions better than the visitors, Gavaskar said: "Indian pitches are generally very-very good to bat on the first couple of days, then they sort of slow-down and have a bit of spin. Sometimes the ball keeps low. So you win the toss and you bat first."

"You have the opportunity to put up a decent total on the board and India did more than decent. They scored more than 500 runs. Batting first becomes an important aspect on Indian pitches."

... contd.

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