India vs Sri Lanka: Cheteshwar Pujara reveals he's learning the art of sledging

Cheteshwar Pujara may be viewed as one of the quieter guys in the Indian dressing room, a man of few words who prefers to let his bat do the talking. And talk his bat does rather fluently, with two centuries coming off it in the last three days. However, the ‘quiet’ Pujara is learning an art that would be considered diametrically opposite to his nature. In an interview on the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) official website on Monday, the Saurashtra batsman stated that he was currently learning the art of sledging, and that at some stage you needed it to unsettle the opposition. [caption id=“attachment_3907929” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Cheteshwar Pujara. AP[/caption] “I am still learning the art of sledging. Sledging is something which has to be done if the need arises because at times the bowlers do need some help, but it can’t be personal. “So, if we can help as fielders and talk to the batsmen, then a little bit of sledging (needs to be done). At some stage, you do need to sledge,” Pujara was quoted as saying in an interaction with India teammate Ajinkya Rahane, who himself had a few stories to share. Pujara, coming fresh off a county stint with Nottinghamshire, has been in terrific form in the series so far, registering scores of 153, 15 and 133 in the three knocks that he got in the ongoing three-match Test series against Sri Lanka so far. With 301 runs in two Tests, Pujara is the leading run-getter in the series by a distance, ahead of Dimuth Karunaratne by 36 runs. Also read - India vs Sri Lanka: Ajinkya Rahane reveals his secret to becoming one of the best slip fielders