Indian star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has bet that if batsman Cheteshwar Pujara hits one of the English spinners over his head, he will shave half his moustache. India will take on England in a four-match Test series at home in February. 

Ashwin made this comments while chatting with India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour on his YouTube channel. When Ashwin asked Rathour if Pujara will ever hit an off-spinner over the top, the later replied that he tried his best to convince him, but to no avail.

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Ashwin then said, “If he goes over the top against Moeen Ali or any other spinner stepping down the wicket in this English series that we gonna play, I will take half my moustache out and come to play the game. This is an open challenge.”

It has been established that while batting, Pujara settles in as the rock solid entity, and lets the other batsman hit his usual shots.

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Rathour asked Ashwin as to why he criticises Pujara’s defensive style, to which the spinner said, “Because what happens is, every time an opponent like Nathan Lyon is bowling, Pujji makes it so heart throbbing for me. Every time the ball goes up in the air, I am like ‘You know what? Nobody plays like this man. You are making him look unplayable.’ And eventually, everybody will think that I’m not able to make the other batsmen bat like this.”

Both Ashwin and Pujara played major roles in India’s historic Test series win in Australia. While Ashwin stood like a wall along with Hanuma Vihari to avoid a defeat in the third Test, Pujara did the same in the fourth Test in Gabba to clinch the victory.