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'Will practice on seaming tracks for England tour'
He may be out of the scheme of things as far as Kings XI are concerned, but Cheteshwar Pujara is not taking things easy.
The free time gives Pujara the tight opportunity to prepare for the upcoming England tour.
The Test specialist intends to use the time before England tour by preparing some seaming tracks back home in Rajkot and get ready to face Jimmy Anderson and the Tim Bresnan.
"Obviously, you can't create the conditions like what it is in England but I will prepare some tracks back home and practice on them. I will do that just before the series starts. There's no point starting well ahead and putting pressure but once IPL gets over, my focus will be on the England series," Pujara said.
'It's always a dream for any player to play in the World Cup'
Pujara knows only too well that time is running out as far as making it to the core group for the next year’s World Cup is concerned but he wishes to get a look in for the short series in Bangladesh which will help him prove his credentials as a limited overs batsman.
"It's always a dream for any player to play in the World Cup but personally, I can't comment whether I will be there. But I am very confident that the manner in which I am preparing, I will get some success and hope that in the coming series against Bangladesh, I will get a chance. My Preparation has been fantastic.
"In Test matches, I have been doing well and that experience will help me in ODIs too. Because most of the bowlers you play in Tests are playing ODIs also. If I have done reasonably well in Tests, it will help me do well in ODI format also," he explained.
Adding shots in armour
On his own admission, he is trying to improve his repertoire of shots.
Asked if he intends to add an additional 'gear' in his batting, he said, "I don’t think, it's about changing the gears but having more shots in your batting. There are a few more shots for T20 and ODIs but basics still remain the same as you would want to play the ball as you have known. If I have done that in Tests, then why not in ODIs?"
About the selection of shots, he said, "For example, if the third man is up, then playing reverse sweep is a good option. Also may be try the scoop or the paddle shot which will force the bowlers to alter the length."
Pujara had scores of 35 and 40 and was dropped after a string of poor scores by his IPL side. But India's No 3 in Tests is not perturbed.
"You have to see the combinations in IPL and it’s not that you can play all the games. Overall, I am happy with my performance so far. I was assigned a role and I did well. I am working on my game in T20s and ODIs and this will obviously help me in future. If I do well in T20s, that can translate into good form in ODIs where I will get more time to build an innings."
'It is important for us to come in first two spots'
From team perspective, Pujara feels that winning all the matches is important in order to finish among the top two which will give them an additional play-off match.
"It is important for us to come in first two spots so that even if we lose the first game, we get another chance to qualify for the final. It is also important to maintain the winning momentum as if we start losing, it becomes very difficult to make a comeback. So I don’t think we need to experiment too much."