Indian Cricket Team Pay Tribute to Pujara with New Dance

Published 01/07/2019, 10:16 AM EST

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The Indian Cricket team clinched their first series win in Australia. To commemorate the occasion, they performed a celebratory dance after the Sydney Test was called off. This dance was likely a tribute to Cheteshwar Pujara, the highest run-getter and Man of the Series.

Wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, kick-started the whole thing with a bit of spot-jogging with the top half of the body falling forward.

“That was the Pujara dance because when he walks he doesn’t move his hands,” skipper Virat Kohli said. “It was an extension of his walk.”

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Pujara, was implored to do the ‘Pujara dance’ by his team-mates, but failed. “You’ll have to ask Rishabh that,” Kohli said. “He came up with and we just went along. It just felt good, it was very easy but Pujara couldn’t even do that… he is so simple.”

Even the Indian Cricket Team coach Ravi Shastri joined in the revelry, saying they wanted Pujara to shake a leg but perhaps he would have been more comfortable in his pads. “Pujara was exceptional in this series,” Shastri said. “He can bat and bat and bat. He made one mistake, that was at the presentation. He should have padded up and gone up and they would have given him the trophy without even mentioning his name once they saw you padded up.”

via Imago

Despite being dropped four times from the Indian Cricket Team, Pujara has finally proved that he deserves to stay. Especially when he smashed three centuries to help win the series for India. Captain Kohli was full of praise for the best batsman of this series.

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“A special mention to Pujara,” Kohli said at the trophy presentation. “He has been outstanding this series, after the kind of series he had last time when he came here. He’s one guy who was willing to accept things, take it in his stride, work on his game. He’s one of the nicest guys around. I’m happy for him.”

“I have one word to say and that is, I am proud,” Kohli said of the bowling unit. “I feel great standing in the slip cordon watching these guys. I didn’t have to tell Bumrah yesterday to bowl at 149 clicks with the old ball to a No. 11. It was his decision. You can see that hunger, you can see that passion. And we would put everything on the line to win for the team. That’s why those numbers come on the board. If you just want to put numbers on the board then you won’t even get the numbers or the wins. You strive for team goals, team excellence and help the team in any way possible and then those special things happen.

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“You don’t need to tell the guys to run in and bowl with full intensity or full effort. They take ownership of their skills and you can see the way they bowl, they set their own fields. They are dictating terms now and this is the most amazing thing you can ask for from your bowlers, especially fast bowlers. When they are happy and firing you always feel like you can win anywhere in the world and you can beat any side in the world anywhere. In the last 12 months I would rate their contribution far above the contribution of any of the batsmen. Hats off to their effort.”

via Imago

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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