Cheteshwar Pujara has recalled a humorous incident involving Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood from their time together at Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Pujara revealed that Hazlewood playfully refused to bowl to him during a practice session, joking that he had already spent enough time bowling to him in Test cricket.
The light-hearted exchange came after the pair had faced off repeatedly during India’s historic Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumphs in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21, where Pujara’s marathon innings often frustrated the Australian quicks.
“During the Australia series in 2018 and 2021, I played a lot against Josh Hazlewood. Then I got picked by CSK. The first time I went to bat in the nets, Hazlewood refused to bowl to me. He said, ‘I won’t bowl to him.’ Even though he was my teammate, he refused.
“He joked that he had bowled to me far too much over the previous few months before the IPL, so he wasn’t going to bowl to me again. He was kidding, but he actually didn’t bowl to me,” said Pujara on JioHotstar’s series Cheeky Singles.
Looking back on the early days of his IPL career, Pujara also spoke about a memorable encounter with Shah Rukh Khan, co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
He admitted it was a special moment to meet the Bollywood superstar, but stressed that for professional cricketers, the team’s environment, opportunities to improve, and overall cricketing culture ultimately matter far more than the presence of celebrity franchise owners.
“I started with KKR. Shah Rukh Khan was the owner there. When I met him for the first time, I definitely had that fanboy moment. But when you think about cricket, you can’t think, ‘Just because Shah Rukh Khan is the owner, I want to stay here.’
“You want to be there because of the environment the franchise creates, the opportunity to learn from legendary players, play alongside them, and improve your cricket. That is what matters,” he added.
