xtratime Logo

[caption id="attachment_58842" align="alignnone" width="580"] Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli was involved in a huge partnership against Sri Lanka in the second test match at Jamtha. Image Source: twitter@icc[/caption] Internet Desk: It will be difficult for other batsmen to score at the brisk pace with which Virat is piling his runs, feel Cheteshwar Pujara. The Sourashtra batsman himself has been consistently scoring runs this season. On being asked why other players could not score at Kohli's pace, Pujara admitted that matching his captain can be extremely difficult. "See, he (Kohli) is a kind of player who performs well in all the formats of the game and the way he started off, if there was some other batsmen, I don't think they could have started in the same way. I think it's his confidence and way he is batting, in last two to three years, it would have been difficult for any other batsman to score at such a strike rate," Pujara paid glowing tribute to his captain's capabilities. The hallmark of Pujara's game has been batting for long hours and he attributed it to better recovery and improved fitness. "I think for the last one and a half to two years, I have been working hard on my fitness and luckily there has not been any sort of injury. I am fully fit and that's the reason I am able to take quick singles and doubles. Even my recoveries are much better now when it comes to fitness," said Pujara. Pujara feels that the experience of two previous tours of South Africa (2010 and 2013) along with his experience of English County has been of immense help as he prepares for his third trip to the Rainbow Nation. "The first Test starts on January 5, before that there's plenty of time to prepare. Personally, county experience and past South African experience will certainly help because I have improved my technique especially while playing in overseas conditions. Overall, I am very confident with the kind of form I am going through." The Saurashtra right-hander feels that simulating conditions similar to South Africa and England will certainly go a long way for the team to get better results while touring these countries. Asked if a few more practice games (India has only single two-day warm-up game) would have helped, Pujara said: "As far as practice games are concerned, I should not be the one commenting. It also depends on schedule and how BCCI plans its tour. But going there little bit early -- a week or 10 days early, and then practicing on those pitches are important.