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Despite being one of India's best Test batsmen in the past ten and a half years, Cheteshwar Pujara was no stranger to being a casualty in the national team. Pujara has always taken the brunt of criticism, sometimes for strike rate in the West Indies and other times following a string of poor performances in England.

However, when the rumors of dropping him for the 2018–19 Australia tour surfaced, Pujara was truly shaken. When convinced by his wife, Puja, Pujara, who rarely spoke, was unable to resist. The seasoned batsman described how he heard rumors that he will be dropped from the Melbourne Test.

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The information was made public by Puja Pujara in her book, "The Diary of a Cricketer's Wife."

Before the second Test in Perth, Puja wrote, her husband was suffering from a hamstring injury. He had struck a century and a half in the first Test in Adelaide to help India take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. At the same moment, Arvind, Pujara's father, unexpectedly fell and needed to be taken to the hospital right away.

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Not disclosing the specifics of his father's illness, Puja supported her husband, who had a rough time in Perth, scoring only 28 runs in both innings. India were defeated by 146 runs in the Test.

Pujara had a difficult time between the second and third Test. While his wife, Puja, was caring for his father, who needed an emergency heart treatment, he was doing his best not to let the hamstring interfere with his batting. During all of this, Pujara heard a phone call in which his place in the Melbourne Test starting lineup was the primary subject of debate.

"Cheteshwar made the most of his three-day break and did not step out of his room much. He alternated between resting his afflicted limb and getting his strained hamstring treated. On the lone occasion when he did, he overheard someone engaged in an intense conversation on the telephone, stating that he did not want my husband to play in the coming match because he was unfit. It was an unpleasant incident. But Cheteshwar gave no sign that he had accidentally become privy to the said exchange. Neither did he tell anyone about Papa’s medical condition," Puja wrote in her book.

She further disclosed that years later, while they were talking about birthday greetings on social media, Pujara told her about the incident.

"I only learnt of the incident accidentally on Cheteshwar’s birthday after the tour was over. It was around half-past-two in the afternoon, the lights were off and the room was quite dark. Aditi was napping and Cheteshwar and I were reclining on our bed as I scrolled through our social media pages reading out birthday greetings. One message posted on Instagram was particularly effusive and touching. I read it out aloud to Cheteshwar, remarking, ‘Such a sweet gesture—what a lovely message!’ There was complete silence. He did not say a word. Puzzled, I looked up from my phone and caught a most peculiar expression on Cheteshwar’s face—one that was simultaneously secretive and pitying. I had no trouble translating his mind — it was his vintage you’re-so-naïve-and-trusting look I had seen it before and was therefore quite familiar with it."

‘What’s wrong,’ I asked. ‘Nothing,’ he said, at his taciturn best. But I was not buying it. I knew quite well that when Cheteshwar went completely quiet, it usually meant he was concealing something. It was a frequent occurrence. I usually learnt of on-field gossip and politics from other players’ wives, never from him. Throughout my marriage, Cheteshwar’s description of his various trips had been limited to three unvarying sentences: ‘We had practice, a team meeting and then I returned to the room.’ Day in and day out, year after year, I had been treated to the same standard lines. He was ready to talk about everything but his professional life. There were times when I would wonder if he even knew what was happening in the world around him."

"But in this instance, I was not about to let him clam up on me. He tried to fend me off, but I finally wore him down. ‘This guy you’re praising,’ commented Cheteshwar laconically, ‘wanted me to be dropped from the team because of fitness issues.’ I gaped at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why did you go through it alone?’ ‘Such things happen,’ he shrugged, ‘and not everything deserves a reaction. I played and played well and that’s what matters. You don’t need to dwell too much on the incident. But it’s important that you learn not to trust everything that takes place on social media’," she wrote.

India won the first away Test series on Australian soil, and Pujara was named Player of the Series.

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