Cheteshwar Pujara had once set himself up comfortably into the first down position of the Indian test team. But the competition and the change in administration means that now he has to wait for someone else to perform badly to get into the playing eleven. Pujara’s dipping form has resulted in captain Virat Kohli going with Rohit Sharma as his number three batsman. But as a cricket analyst, both my mind and my heart says that if there is anyone who needs backup, it’s Cheteshwar Pujara.
If you’re thinking, I am a Pujara fanatic and I will have some cool words appreciating him and showing his statistics or anything, then no, most certainly not. I am very neutral and never in my life, have I been obsessed to anyone or anything. This article is more about criticising him for disappointing India on important tours. Pujara simply has on all testing tours, survived the hard phase and given away his wicket to a circumstantially rookie bowler.
When big names like Tendulkar retired and we had all the new generation of batsmen in India, Pujara was simply the best test batsman, and Kohli for limited overs. But, the real test comes for the team in form of overseas tours. Real tests for the new generation began immediately after Tendulkar retired. The tours of South Africa, New Zealand, England and the Australian Summer were for all of them the real test to prove themselves.
Pujara started his South African tour of December 2013 with amazing success. It was the place where he was made to tour very early in his test career and he failed miserably against the likes of Dale Steyn. I remember him getting Leg Before on that 2010-11 South African summer being clueless on a fantastic Dale Steyn delivery. This time, Pujara had come prepared. In Wanderers, his second innings was a pure masterclass. It would take a novice to understand that his defences were spot on in that particular innings. He attacked at the right time and crafted his innings nicely enough to set South Africa a good target on the final day. It was though du Plesis and de Villiers who stole the show on the final day giving India a narrow escape to a defeat and ending up in a draw. At that time India proudly saw Pujara as the best batsman in test cricket just like his idol Rahul Dravid was, the most dependable and solid.
His bad days began in New Zealand where he failed to deliver in either of the test matches. In the complete English summer, Pujara again failed to deliver throughout the 5 test matches. Story was not how regular batsmen failed. Pujara was negotiating the initial swing well. Due to Dhawan not performing well on any occasion, Pujara was almost an opener to India. But a part time off spinner Moeen Ali would get Pujara’s wicket in very unexpected ways. I remember Pujara edging a straight delivery to the keeper. Very disappointing for a star Ranaji performer who has dealt with spinners all through his domestic career on turning pitches.
In Australia, Pujara became the king of soft dismissals. Once again, it wasn’t Johnson or Harris who troubled them often. Usually he started well and got into a position where he would be set to play strokes. His techniques to play with soft hands looked good. On few occasions he did found himself bowled or trapped in front against the seemers but mainly it was Nathan Lyon who got him out with regulation off spin. By this time, Pujara’s technique had looked vulnarable against any type of spin. Playing a spinner, the key is to play either on front foot or backfoot and decide that very clearly and in advance. Pujara looks very ambiguous in this aspect. I’ve seen him trapped against spinner becaue he is on neither foot. In Adelaide, he was set for a good innings but a soft dismissal against Lyon set the tone for a monotonous Australian summer.
Pujara Edging one off Lyon to Haddin
The simple point I am raising for the readers is why would there be no backing up for Pujara for atleast for a few test matches. In the same course of duration we’re talking about, there hasn’t also been any significant performance by Rohit Sharma either. In the same Adelaide test that was set up nicely by Kohli and Vijay, Sharma could at least have shown some sign that he can play spin well. Pujara after failed tours still maintains his average in higher end of 40s. Coincidently or by whatever reasons, I have always liked MS Dhoni’s logics for choices of backing up. But with newer administration, Pujara not getting a chance is disheartening.
Pujara’s services could also be needed as an opener if Shikhar Dhawan fails to deliver in difficult batting circumstances but in my opinion Vijay-Pujara combination is not the one India is looking for as they are similar kinds of players who take their time and on occasions might struggle to get the game moving. An aggressor like Shikhar Dhawan complements Vijay better and even Lokesh Rahul is someone who is eying for that opening spot behind Dhawan. In the subcontinent, Dhawan looks like the king. He in my opinion is closest to the definition of “flat track bully”. Rahul’s dependability on the long run is yet to be seen.
Only three out of the five choices in Vijay, Dhawan, Sharma, Rahul and Pujara will feature in the top three in Indian line up and the difficulty is that the management shows least faith on Cheteshwar Pujara. But I strictly disagree and would like to see him back in action. What are your thoughts over the line up?