Pujara has been fortunate to watch many of Kohli’s great innings from close quarters. ”He has played many great knocks. Each of his centuries was a delight to watch. But for me, his 100 against Australia in 2018 in the second Test match at Perth stands out and is one of my favourite innings.” he said.

“Kohli has been a great leader. He is someone who has led from the front. He is someone under whose leadership the team started winning Test matches overseas. So the credit should definitely go to him as a leader and also the kind of fitness levels he brought into the team. He was instrumental in making that (fitness levels) change,” said Pujara.

“Off the field, he is calm and composed. On the field, yes, he is aggressive, but off the field when you chat with him, he is very calm and very composed. You would always enjoy having conversations with him. He is also someone who is very light-hearted, likes cracking jokes, laughing whenever it is possible. So, he was a delight to play with,” revealed Pujara.