R Ashwin, ‘believe it or not’, credits Cheteshwar Pujara as ‘instrumental in Virat Kohli’s runs’: 'White walker of…'

Ravichandran Ashwin paid Cheteshwar Pujara the ultimate tribute following the latter's retirement from all forms of Indian cricket. Pujara called time on his career, having played 103 Tests for the country and scored more than 7195 runs at an average of 43.60. The right-handed batter, 37, smashed 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries. Throughout his playing career, Pujara was known for grinding the opposition bowlers to the ground, making the job of the rest of the batters relatively easier. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were involved in many memorable partnerships. (AP)

While speaking on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’, Ashwin said that Pujara was instrumental in helping Virat Kohli score his runs in Tests. The former India captain Kohli announced his Test retirement earlier this year ahead of the squad announcement for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England.

Kohli and Pujara were involved in a lot of memorable partnerships. Ashwin reckons that the former India No.3 deserves to be talked about as much as Rohit Sharma and Kohli. It must be mentioned that Pujara is the only Indian batter to face more than 500 balls in a single Test innings (525 deliveries against Australia in 2017 in Ranchi).

Pujara was also hit 11 times on the body when India pulled off a memorable win at the Gabba, Brisbane, against Australia in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The right-hander faced 211 deliveries, scoring 56 runs, as he wore out Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

“What did Cheteshwar Pujara stand for in Indian cricket? I said his contributions are no less than Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Obviously, a lot of people talk about their contributions. The attention is not there,” said Ashwin.

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“Not every cricketer gets the attention, but that does not mean their contribution is any less. Pujara's contribution at No.3, believe it or not, was instrumental in helping Virat Kohli also make a lot of his runs,” he added.

Pujara the white-walker of Indian cricket

While speaking about Pujara's exploits against Australia in the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Ashwin revealed that he nicknamed the No.3 batter the ‘white walker of Indian cricket’. It must be mentioned that the white walker is an uber-popular character from the HBO drama ‘Game of Thrones’.

“The cricket-loving public definitely knows the contribution of Cheteshwar Pujara. If you guys have seen Game of Thrones, there is a character of a white walker. I termed Pujara a white walker. He walks slowly but never leaves the field,” said Ashwin.

Ashwin, who retired from international cricket in December 2024, midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, also spoke about the 2018 Test between India and South Africa in Johannesburg, where Pujara displayed great guts to bat on a pitch which was eventually declared “poor” by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

In the first innings of this particular Test, Pujara scored 50 off 197 balls. The batter faced 53 balls before getting off the mark. “There was a wicket in South Africa, the game had to be stopped at the Wanderers. The wicket was deemed dangerous. We had lost the series. Pujara played 53 balls before he got off the mark,” said Ashwin.

“Just see that scorecard, Pujara's batting helped us out. It was a low-scoring game. He always did the thankless job; the ball was seaming a lot in that Test. Pujara's contribution is unbelievable. People don't talk about him much, but he is a bona fide legend. There are not many players like him,” Ashwin concluded.

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