Cheteshwar Pujara on Friday walked out at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi to play his 100th Test match for India. The BCCI celebrated the occasion by felicitating Pujara ahead of the start of the second Test where former captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar presented him with his 100th Test cap. It was a proud moment for his family members as well who accompanied him during the ceremony.
Pujara has often spoken about the support from his father. But this around, the latter opened up about the hard yards his son went through while growing up. Cheteshwar’s father, Arvin Pujara, revealed in an interview how the Indian batter went through distressing incidents at an early age. However, the cricketer didn’t let them affect him.`
India vs Australia Live Updates, 2nd Test, Day 2
“Beyond the cricket field, he has faced some really tough situations. Had he not been strong, he would have crumbled under pressure, given up the game and drifted in life,” Pujara’s father was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
Arvind Pujara recalled a heart-wrenching story when his Reena passed away. Cheteshwar Pujara was about to return home after his team, Saurashtra, lost early in an Under-19 game. He had informed her mother about the same over a phone call but he hardly knew it would be the last time he spoke to her.
“I still remember the day Reena left us. This was after her chemotherapy was over and she seemed on the mend. Chintu was in Bhavnagar, playing an under-19 game. We were shifting houses, so my wife said she would go to our relative’s home so she could rest.
“Since the Saurashtra team lost early, Chintu called his mother around 2 pm to tell her that he would be returning that evening. Within a couple of hours, Reena got what is called a ‘lightning heart attack’. It happened so quickly that she couldn’t get up from the diwan and move to the bed. When Chintu reached home, we were a family of two – his mother, my wife and the center of our lives had left this world,” revealed Arvind.
A few years later, Arvind himself suffered a heart attack but fortunately, he made a full recovery.
“Years later, Chintu would be reminded of that traumatic day again. While he was undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, I got a heart attack. That day, I was in bed when my heart started beating vigorously. So much so that I could hear it beat like a drum. I called my family doctor Nirbhay Shah, and asked: ‘What does one feel when he is having a heart attack?’. He knew me well and asked where I was. Dr Shah rushed home and shifted me to a hospital.
“He called Chintu and told him that I was admitted to a hospital. It is easy to guess his thoughts when he was on the plane. He wasn’t sure if the doctor was telling him the truth. He wasn’t sure if I was still alive. But he kept calm and reached Rajkot. God was kind to us, this time there was no bad news waiting for him. He was pleased to see me,” Arvind further said.
Get the latest Cricket News here
Comments
0 comment