Pujara: Sachin's knock the best of the three

India

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara says Sachin Tendulkar's innings of 74 in his final Test, in Mumbai against the West Indies, was the best of the three big scores of the innings, despite Pujara making a ton himself.

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara says Sachin Tendulkar's innings of 74 in his final Test, in Mumbai against the West Indies, was the best of the three big scores of the innings, despite Pujara making a ton himself.

Pujara made 113, while Rohit Sharma scored his third ton (111 not out) in as many innings to take India to 495 all out. But Pujara said the pressure on Tendulkar in his final game, in front of his home fans, made his knock the most special.

Pujara said after the day's play: "I would say that Sachin's knock was the best of three innings. You have to understand the situation where he was playing his last game in Mumbai.

"There was a lot of pressure of expectations on him and it was difficult to concentrate out there in the middle with the crowd making such a noise. It wasn't easy to stay calm in such a situation."

Of his own century, Pujara claimed it would not have been possible without Tendulkar's help in the nets prior to the match, saying: "I was not batting well at the nets and generally struggling to play the outswingers.

"Tendulkar watched my batting and said that my right shoulder was opening up a bit. He advised me to get a bit side-on and have a little bigger stride to counter the swing.

"I tried working on his tips after my regular net session and it helped. In fact, not only me, in my 15 Tests for India, I have seen how all the youngsters have benefitted from Sachin paaji's advice."

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