Cheteshwar Pujara and Pat Cummins. ( AP Photo)
Nearly half of those runs, 993, came in Australia, where Pujara struck three centuries and five fifties. His highest score Down Under was 193.
“From New Zealand, I played Brendon McCullum a couple of times when he was really going hard at the top of the order,” said Cummins. Pat Cummins has faced some of India’s biggest cricketing names during his international career, but when asked to identify the toughest Indian opponent he has come up against, the Australia captain did not pick MS Dhoni , Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Cummins selected Brendon McCullum as his toughest opponent from New Zealand, recalling the former New Zealand captain’s aggressive approach at the top of the order.
Happy to face 100 dot balls if he wanted to.
Not going to give you a chance,” said Cummins in a video shared on social media. Instead, Cummins went back to the player who repeatedly tested Australia’s patience during two memorable Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and chose Cheteshwar Pujara as his toughest Indian opponent. The Australia Test and ODI captain made the admission in a recent promotional video for Prime Video Sport, where he was asked to name the toughest player he had faced from India, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the West Indies. “India, I’m going to say, Pujara. Really hard to get out. Just like death by a thousand papercuts.