At the launch of The Diary of a Cricketer’s Wife, penned by Puja Pujara, Indian cricket stars Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara brought the house down with their playful banter and behind-the-scenes stories from their time on the field.Reminiscing about their playing days, Rohit revealed a humorous tussle the two often had — not over runs or wickets, but over who would be stuck at fielding positions like short leg and silly point.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“We fight amongst each other, who will take the short leg, who will take the silly point,” Rohit chuckled. “and Pujji [Pujara] used to be like ‘I’m No.3, so I need to rest more than you’. So you take that because I used to bat at No.5 and 6. And then we decided among us …”Interrupting with a smile, Pujara added, “But it turned around later when he started opening in Tests. Then he said, ‘Now I’m the opener, so you go stand at short leg!’ I had no answer — I just went.”
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The duo also shared their early memories of playing for Indian Oil in the Times Shield. “We had a strong batting line-up,” Pujara recalled. “In one game, we scored over 800 runs. The best seat when batting with Rohit was the non-striker’s end — he just took the bowlers on.”WATCH:Another amusing tale came from a 2012 India A tour in Trinidad and Tobago, when Pujara got mobbed late at night while searching for vegetarian food. Rohit grinned, “Moral of the story — we told him not to go out after 9pm. But he’s stubborn.”Rohit also lauded Pujara for playing over 100 Tests after suffering ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries to both his knees right at the start of his career.
Pujara last played a Test in June 2023, having scored 7,195 runs in 103 matches at an average of 43.60 — but the camaraderie with Rohit remains timeless.
