‘Form is temporary but class is permanent’ – Cheteshwar Pujara’s stunning reply to critics

India batter Cheteshwar Pujara had a decent outing in the second innings of the Johannesburg Test and scored a valuable 53, stitching a partnership of 111 runs with Ajinkya Rahane to bail India out of early trouble. Both Pujara and Rahane were under severe pressure and were playing to save their Test careers. Even former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar predicted that the second innings might be the last chance for the duo to keep their place in the team.

Pujara was asked to comment on Gavaskar’s opinion and if he felt any pressure to which he replied that the team has always backed them and they were very confident during their stay at the crease.

“We are confident and there is lot of backing from team management. We have always been learning from Sunny bhai and whenever I have spoken to him, he has always been supportive,” Pujara said at the end of the day’s play as quoted by NDTV.

Pujara accepted that he and Rahane have not contributed much of late but said they are working hard and the team management has shown great faith in them. “Yes, there are times when you are going through bad form, there will be questions but we are confident players. Myself and Ajinkya and we know we are working hard on our game and there’s a saying form is temporary but class is permanent and it applies here.

“We have done well in past and management has shown a lot of faith in us and it has paid for sure and once batter is back in form, you keep scoring runs and keep going up and up,” he said

Meanwhile, the second Test is evenly poised with South Africa needing 122 runs to win with eight wickets left.