Sydney: As Cheteshwar Pujara brings down the curtain on his professional cricket career, tributes continue to pour in — including a candid reflection from Australian cricketer Alyssa Healy, wife of pacer Mitchell Starc. Speaking on the Willow Talk podcast, Healy admitted that Pujara’s extraordinary patience and resilience made him one of the toughest batters Australia’s bowlers ever faced.

Pujara’s Marathon Innings in Australia

Pujara was instrumental in India’s historic 2018-19 Test series win in Australia, where he faced 1,258 balls in seven innings, wearing down one of the fiercest bowling attacks in the world. He repeated his heroics during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, helping India secure another famous victory Down Under.

Healy acknowledged the toll Pujara’s style took on Australia’s bowlers. “He was a huge part of those two series wins. He kept that attack out, drained them, and made them work so hard. By the end, they almost gave up trying to get him out and instead focused on the other end,” she said.

A Rare Breed of Batter

Healy admitted she herself wouldn’t have the mental fortitude to bat like Pujara. “When you put it like that, it’s wild. I don’t have the mental fortitude to do that,” she said, adding that the modern game rarely produces players of his type.

She noted that the approach in cricket has shifted. Instead of grinding out long innings, today’s batters are often coached to score quickly. “The conversation used to be about batting long. Now it’s more about how do I score. I don’t think we’ll see someone like Pujara again,” she said.

While pointing out that players like Joe Root and Steve Smith still play anchor roles for their teams, Healy suggested that Pujara’s old-school style of endurance batting is increasingly rare in modern cricket.

Image Source: Google | Image Credit: Respective Owner