New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) Former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara revealed a light-hearted moment involving Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood during their time together at Chennai Super Kings (CSK), recalling how the quick jokingly refused to bowl to him in the nets after battling him endlessly in Test cricket.
Having spent hours facing Hazlewood during India’s memorable Border-Gavaskar Trophy series victories in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21, Pujara shared the humorous exchange with Hazlewood during his time of being with CSK in the IPL.
“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 wasn’t going to bowl to me again. He was kidding, but he actually didn’t bowl to me,” said Pujara on JioHotstar’s series ‘Cheeky Singles’.
Reflecting on his early IPL career, Pujara, who played 103 Tests for India, also recalled experiencing a “fanboy moment” when meeting Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner, actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan, though he noted that team culture and cricket development remain a player’s primary priority over celebrity presence.
“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,” he added.
–IANS
nr/bc
