Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar heaped praises on Indian cricketers Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav after their magnificent series against Australia. Tendulkar called Pujara a ‘silent warrior’ for the way he goes about doing his business in a team brimming with talent.
“Pujara has been a silent warrior, terrific temperament, and somebody again who (is) dedicated, disciplined and focused. I have seen him from close quarters and I was impressed with what I saw, I knew that this guy is there for long time,” said Tendulkar.
During Dharamsala Test, Pujara created a new record by scoring the most runs in a Test season, breaking the previous mark set by Gautam Gambhir eight years ago. Pujara’s knock of 202 in the Ranchi Test against Australia turned out to be the longest innings by an Indian in Test.
Tendulkar was also impressed by Umesh Yadav for lasting an entire home season with grit. “The way guys have shown discipline and commitment, 13 Test matches in a row, I don’t remember anything like that happening during our periods and someone like Umesh (Yadav) have played 12 of them, so for a fast bowler it is really taxing, that shows that you are going to work on your body,” said Tendulkar.
Tendulkar said that Yadav will only get better. “Umesh is a kind of a bowler who keeps getting better with time, the more he bowls the better he gets. And you could see that, the last innings of the season that he bowled was possibly the best spell,” said Tendulkar.
Yadav picked up 17 wickets in four Tests against Australia. Tendulkar said, “I think somebody who bowls good reverse swing will always be effective in India. (The) surfaces, texture, there is reverse swing and it happened in Dharamshala as well. Umesh bowled a couple of damn good reverse swingers.”
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