'Stubborn' Cheteshwar Pujara ignored Rohit Sharma's advice, regretted it moments later: 'I told him not to...'
India's batting duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma go back a long way. They first appeared for India together during the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, highlights of which are still available on YouTube, before going on to carve out a glorious career with the Indian cricket team. Rohit and Pujara could have batted a lot more together in Tests, but the Indian ODI captain's sporadic runs in Test cricket did not allow it to happen. Pujara, a Test specialist for India, instead, put on some legendary partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli. But that doesn't take away anything from some of the most memorable and not-so-memorable moments he and Rohit have shared both on and off the field.
Who can forget Rohit's iconic unfiltered call "Bhaag Pujji" followed by an expletive during the 2019 Test series between India and South Africa at home? Even though they may not have played together since 2021, Rohit and Pujara continue to share a strong bond. Last year, when moments after Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket, Rohit's slip of tongue regarding Pujara became one of his peak press conference moments. "Pujara is hiding somewhere in Rajkot, so we don't meet so often. Let me clarify, Pujara has not retired. You'll get me killed," he said.
Recently, during the book launch of 'The Diary of a Cricketer's Wife' penned by Pujara's wife, Pooja, which Rohit attended, the India ODI captain reminded his former teammate about an incident that probably got left out. As part of the same Playing XI on numerous occasions, Rohit recalled their tour of the West Indies, where, despite his warning, Pujara did not pay attention and shortly regretted his decision.
"I'm sure it's not written in the book. Is there anything regarding that West Indies tour of India A 2012. What happened," Rohit needed Pujara. That's when Puji opened up on the incident. "I haven't told. I mean, she is aware but she doesn't know the details. I am a vegetarian. So we were looking for a vegetarian meal at night. It was in TNT (Trinidad and Tobago) where we went out at 11 in the evening. We didn't find the meal but when we were walking back, I was mugged. I can't tell you in detail about it but that's the story he is referring to."
Rohit added his two cents on the matter as well. "Moral of the story is that he can be stubborn," he said. "We told him. We warned him not to go out in the night. Don't step out after 9 PM. This is the West Indies."
It should be noted that Pujara had already made his debut for India by then. His first Test for India dates to October of 2010 against Australia in Bengaluru. Between then and January of 2011, Pujara played three Tests for India before getting dropped from the team. He finally made his return in August of 2012, scoring his maiden century – 159 against New Zealand in Hyderabad.
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