Galle: The contribution of former Saurashtra Ranji cricketer Arvind Pujara in his son Cheteshwar’s career is well-documented and as he gears up for his 50th Test, the dependable no. 3 is happy that his “worst critic” is no longer as strict as he used to be.

“My father has always been my best and worst critic. At times, he has been very critical but now we have come to an understanding, where we always speak and we come to a conclusion. And he is not very strict anymore,” the normally intense Pujara spoke about his father’s contribution as he prepared for his coveted landmark.

In 49 Tests thus far, Pujara has scored 3,966 runs at an average of 52.18, inclusive of 12 hundreds. The last of those centuries came in the recently concluded first Test at Galle that India won by 304 runs inside four days.

“It has been a wonderful journey so far. Playing the 50th Test match for the country will be a proud moment for me. Yes, there have been ups and downs but looking at my recent (good) form, I will be keen to score some runs in my 50th Test,” said Pujara. For Pujara, his seven-year international career has been a start-stop one till 2015. The early phase has been marred by knee injuries. 

“Getting injured was the most challenging time of my career. I was out for six months due to a knee injury and then again in 2011, when I was out for another six months. Overall, I wasn’t able to play for a year, which was really tough on me,” Pujara recalled those early days of hardship. Pujara termed his 145 on comeback during the 2015 series in Sri Lanka as a career-defining one as he has been getting runs post that innings.