Exclusive: Cheteshwar Pujara banking on past experience to shine in South Africa

Cheteshwar Pujara, leading run-scorer in Test cricket so far in 2017, said he was ready to deal with pressure as well as opportunity for the high-profile tour of South Africa.

The first Test will be played in Cape Town from January 5.

Pujara, 29, currently No.4 in the ICC's Test rankings for batsmen, amassed 1140 runs from 11 matches this year. Given his form and appetite for big runs, the Saurashtra batsman will be key for Virat Kohli's men in a land where Test success has been a rarity for Indian teams.

India have played 17 Tests in South Africa since 1992 and have won only two. Incidentally, both victories came in the last decade. In fact, India drew a three-match series in 2010-11 and came close to drawing the series in 2013.

Pujara was a part of Indian teams which toured South Africa in 2010 as well as 2013. In four Tests there, Pujara has 311 runs including a classy 153. So he knows how to get runs in South Africa, in testing conditions, on bouncy pitches against some of the best fast bowlers in the world.

That experience, Pujara said, will be useful this time too.

"I think the experience, which is the most important thing," Pujara told India Today when asked what would be the difference between this tour and the last two. "I have been there in 2010, in 2013. So when I went there in 2010, obviously it was difficult and luckily, we had players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, all of them were there and I definitely spoke to many of them and that experience definitely helped me in 2013 and now we are going again in 2017-18. I think that experience will definitely help me this time."

India have been near invincible in Test cricket over the lat two years. They have now won nine successive series which is a joint world record with England and Australia.

A series win in South Africa would give India an unprecedented 10th successive series win. Besides, it would mark the start of India's aim of world domination. Undoubtedly, then there would be immense pressure but it is also an opportunity for India's stars to show that they are tigers home and away.

"I think it's a bit of both (pressure and opportunity) I would say because as an individual, I always feel that when the team is in trouble, I lift up my game, I try to motivate myself, my concentration goes up.

"So, I always take it as an opportunity. But at the same time, there is a lot of pressure, I would agree to that because when you go abroad or try and bat in tough situations, you definitely have some pressure on you. But it is how you handle and that is the most important thing," Pujara said.

(Watch the full interview on India Today at 7:30 PM on Saturday)