I solely bought to know on the second day of the Sydney Test

Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara revealed about an emergency situation in his family during the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. India were in Australia for a four-match Test series.

Cheteshwar Pujara appeared in a conversation with his wife Puja on ESPN Cricinfo, where the two spoke about the incident. During the series, Pujara’s father had to get an ablation procedure done while Pujara was in Australia. The batter revealed that he did not know about the same and only got to know about it during the Sydney Test. He also credited his wife Puja for handling the situation.

“It was one of the best series I had been part of. There have been multiple problems at home but she handled it. I did not know anything about my father’s health. I only got to know on the second day of the Sydney Test. There was a lot to process for me being away from home. You get thoughts that do I need to be home, do I need to travel back. But she rest assured me,” Pujara said (24:32).

Cheteshwar Pujara also revealed how he navigated through the situation and did not let it affect his game, with the series on the line.

“I could still focus. It was on my mind. I knew that when you are representing the country with such a big series on the line, if you keep thinking about that while batting then you are not going to do justice to the game,” he said.

“I just tried being in the present and focusing on the game. When I was batting I was just batting. I told myself the only time I will think about my dad is at the end of day’s play. The moment the day was over I was looking for my phone.”

India went on to win the series 2-1 and created history by beating Australia in a Test series in Australia for the first time.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s wife reveals about how she did not inform him about his father’s health initially

Cheteshwar Pujara’s wife Puja also revealed how she did not inform Pujara about the situation initially so that he could focus on his game as she knew it was a crucial series.

“I did not travel on that tour (2018-19 Aus) because our child was just about ten months old. He wasn’t there. Unluckily after the first match, just before the second game, Cheteshwar’s dad had to get an ablation procedure done. That was like a very crucial time because I couldn’t bother him.

“He had a lot on his plate and it was a very important series. They were looking to win the series. I had to wait for at least ten days to break the news. I left my daughter behind with me parents. He was in Sydney. Me and my father-in-law travelled to Bombay to get the procedure done,” she revealed (22:10).

She also added as to how anxious they were as they had to get the procedure done and Cheteshwar Pujara was also batting at the same time.

“He had just come into bat and the entire flight we were anxious for multiple reasons. There’s a medical procedure, he’s batting, so many things. When we got down in Bombay he was still batting and when he reached the hospital hearing a century. It was a very crucial phase and both of us had to step up. He had a minor niggle during the second Test,” she added.

Pujara had scored a brilliant hundred in that game, making 193 runs off 373 balls. He also went on to win the ‘Player of the Match’ and the ‘Player of the Series’.