But you know as well as he does that Pujara’s focus has been tested by challenges far steeper than cracker-infested phone calls and drat-worthy networks. For one, he played and excelled in the Wankhede Test against the West Indies last year where his presence was ignored for the first half of his innings (Sachin Tendulkar was batting in his final essay alongside him) and detested in the second (Tendulkar was back in the pavilion). 

“I had never experienced anything like it before,” he says in all politeness. “It became really difficult for me to concentrate on anything at all. I mean, I have played in venues that pack more than 50,000 spectators in the past. But Mumbai that day was something else.” His innings of 113, his fifth Test ton (all scored after Tendulkar’s last three-digit mark, no less), was neatly divided into two halves. When Tendulkar was dismissed on 74, Pujara had scored 58 invisible runs. And post-Tendulkar, he carved out 55 more runs that no one wanted to see. 

“Understandable, but not easy,” Pujara says. “Even when I was in my zone and scoring boundaries, you know, not really blocking the ball or anything, the crowd was screaming for me to get out. They didn’t want us to score too many runs so India and Sachin paaji could bat again. But through all of that, although very difficult to remember, I knew I had a job at hand. So I watched the ball harder than I ever have and I went into my zone.” 

confuzzled dude wrote:

But you know as well as he does that Pujara’s focus has been tested by challenges far steeper than cracker-infested phone calls and drat-worthy networks. For one, he played and excelled in the Wankhede Test against the West Indies last year where his presence was ignored for the first half of his innings (Sachin Tendulkar was batting in his final essay alongside him) and detested in the second (Tendulkar was back in the pavilion). 

“I had never experienced anything like it before,” he says in all politeness. “It became really difficult for me to concentrate on anything at all. I mean, I have played in venues that pack more than 50,000 spectators in the past. But Mumbai that day was something else.” His innings of 113, his fifth Test ton (all scored after Tendulkar’s last three-digit mark, no less), was neatly divided into two halves. When Tendulkar was dismissed on 74, Pujara had scored 58 invisible runs. And post-Tendulkar, he carved out 55 more runs that no one wanted to see. 

“Understandable, but not easy,” Pujara says. “Even when I was in my zone and scoring boundaries, you know, not really blocking the ball or anything, the crowd was screaming for me to get out. They didn’t want us to score too many runs so India and Sachin paaji could bat again. But through all of that, although very difficult to remember, I knew I had a job at hand. So I watched the ball harder than I ever have and I went into my zone.” 

http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/zonespotting/99/