"We used to think, 'Bhai, tu jee kyu raha hai?'" - Ishant Sharma on 'good boy' Cheteshwar Pujara

Veteran Indian pacer Ishant Sharma has stated that senior batter Cheteshwar Pujara carried the ‘good boy’ image right from his U-19 days at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Admitting that the Saurashtra batter hasn’t changed in all these years, he quipped that teammates used to often wonder what kind of life he was living, minus all the fun.

Pujara, who is known as one of the most resolute characters in Indian cricket, is rarely seen even smiling on the cricket field. His intensity in batting often seems like an extension of his serious and straightforward personality.

In an interview on Ranveer Allahbadia’s YouTube channel, Ishant opened up on how Pujara has always been the ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ of Indian cricket. He said:

“Pujji [Pujara] was like that from the start. From U-19 NCA days, he used to get up in the morning and do pooja and wear janeu (sacred thread). He still wears it. If you ask him certain [naughty] things, he would be like, ‘no this is wrong, I don’t do it’.

"We used to think, ‘Bhai, tu jee kyu raha hai?’ (Brother, why are you living?). Pujara is still like that, but we have changed with time. With time, I guess, everyone realizes that this [being spiritual] is also important,” he added.

Speaking of Pujara, he was recently dropped from the Indian Test team for the upcoming tour of West Indies. The right-handed batter has been going through a lean patch with the bat over the last two-three seasons.

He struggled in the World Test Championship (WTC) final as well against Australia at The Oval, being dismissed for 14 and 27.

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“I used to say Jai Balaji and Axar used to say Jai Mahakal” - Ishant on praying for DC’s wins in IPL 2023

During the interaction, Ishant also opened up on how he and Delhi Capitals (DC) teammate Axar Patel would pray for the team’s win after they got off to a horrendous start in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

Revealing about how the two sought divine intervention, the 34-year-old said:

“I had gone to Balaji before IPL. During the tournament, we were last on the table. After that, we won three matches and, after every win, I used to say Jai Balaji and Axar used to say Jai Mahakal. We used to pray for every two points to somehow push up to 16 points.”

Despite a late fightback, DC finished ninth in the IPL 2023 points table, with five wins and nine losses.