Pujara is showing signs of being able to handle the most critical batting position in Test cricket
Star Cricket did a 2-minute segment featuring young children who had come to watch the first Test between India and England at Ahmedabad earlier this month. At the crease were India’s No. 3 and No. 5 batsmen. When asked who was their favourite among the two, “Virat Kohli” was the unanimous shout. One child, though, yelled, “I like (Cheteshwar) Pujara.”
By the time India’s second innings in the second Test, at Mumbai, came about, that one voice had become a massive din. “Pujara, Pujara” reverberated around Wankhede Stadium as he took guard. In three earlier innings, he had scored 382 runs, getting out once, with the English contingent—players and media—left scratching their heads. Cricket, like any other sport, lends weight to performance and generates expectations. That chant, one not easily attainable from the game’s most fanatical fans, was one of fulfillment.
“I like to bat at No. 3. It is a position where you are most likely to come in when the opposition is bowling with the new ball,” Pujara said after scoring a maiden test double-century in the first Test against England in Ahmedabad. “It is a challenge for me, as for any other batsman. And I put a price on my wicket every time I go out to bat. I don’t like to get out.”
Pujara’s game is built on solid defensive foundations, cemented in his limitations. He doesn’t break the shackles. He wears them out, corroding them with patience and perseverance. At Ahmedabad, he gave England an early chance, a drive that looped up, falling just beyond James Anderson at mid-on. And then there wasn’t a sniff for nine sessions. “It doesn’t take our bowlers three innings to get a batsman out once. He has an astonishing temperament,” exclaimed Graeme Swann, at the receiving end of Pujara’s bat.
In a way this has been the contest of the series, and Pujara’s triumph therein has single-handedly kept India afloat, considering their embarrassing defeat in the second Test. On the dead track at Ahmedabad, Swann conjured all his tricks to keep England in the fight, picking up five wickets. Among the great names that dress up the Indian batting order, only one resisted him. The key for Pujara was to get on to the front-foot early, driving away thereafter with consummate ease.
“Playing Swann was a challenge for me. I hadn’t faced him before, not even in the one practice game (for Mumbai A). But when I played him here (Ahmedabad), I could settle down with confidence after a couple of overs. From there on, it wasn’t much trouble,” he said calmly, yet with a touch of arrogance, perhaps for the first time in his life.
His story isn’t very different from that of many current Indian cricketers. A small-town boy discovers his potential and nurtures it, blessed with a family that believes in him. The road isn’t easy, but he travels it without apprehension, dispatching roadblocks with his stupendously nimble wrists. He overcomes the tragedy of his mother’s death, getting back on to the pitch three days later, hooking life’s bouncer for a six. He then comes to the fore, a diamond whose rough edges have been cut and polished by the wild experience of the domestic circuit.
“My attitude towards batting hasn’t changed from domestic to international cricket,” says Pujara. “But you always learn and adjust yourself, for this is a higher level. And the big difference, I have realized, between the two is that there are no easy run-scoring opportunities. There are very few bad balls to put away. You cannot take anything for granted and consistency is the key to success.”
The curve started off slow, and then spiked and dipped when, after a match-winning half-century (on debut) against Australia (at Bangalore in 2010), he was sidelined owing to a back injury. On his return to international cricket, a full two years hence, it has been a steep rise. Against New Zealand, in the series prior to the ongoing one, he brought up his maiden century at Hyderabad. Skipper M.S. Dhoni warned Kiwis of the unbeaten batsman’s penchant for big hundreds. The next day, he holed out at 159, going for a big shot. Three months later, England searched hard for any such weaknesses to come forth, but in vain. His scores in four innings thus far read 206 not out, 41 not out, 135 and 6.
“He has done exceptionally well against quality spin bowling, perhaps the best he will ever face,” says Rahul Dravid, of his successor at No. 3. “The Ahmedabad wicket was quite flat, but in Mumbai he did well to counter the turn and bounce. It is important to grab opportunities. “Lots of batsmen in domestic cricket are scoring runs and it always keeps you on your toes. Having done exceptionally well will give him a lot of breathing space without the worry of always looking behind your back.”
That Hyderabad Test is an important marker in the annals of Indian cricket. It was the first time India stepped on to the field after the retirements of Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman. The debacle of eight consecutive test defeats to England and Australia was still fresh in memory. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar did nothing in the New Zealand series to upturn their dip in form. For a young one to come and make the No. 3 spot on his own in just six innings saved Indian cricket from slipping into depression. He may not be a poster boy, but to say that the fans aren’t already in love, would be a fallacy.
There is an obvious tendency to draw comparisons. The New Wall is a much-abused moniker, on the social media and everywhere else possible. The similarities are there to see—in Pujara’s soft-spoken manner, in his lack of charisma and his palpable sense of composure, and in the grinding manner he scores his runs. Even so, a keen pair of eyes will easily spot differences. He leans in when flicking through midwicket off the front foot, Dravid stood taller. The latter drooped a little when cutting to square, while Pujara stands up on the back foot, using more wrist than power.
“Even in the defensive mode, he is a modern-day batsman. He looks to be more positive at the start and then carries it through. It shows that he has grown up in an era of ODIs and T20s, so there is a positive streak even in defence,” says Dravid, the one and only Wall.
“In comparison to how I began, he looks a lot more comfortable at the crease. That has come from a lot more opportunities. He has done a lot of India-A tours, played Under-19 cricket, as also visiting sides. It is a lot more exposure and experience than I ever had before I started playing for India. A lot of places I went to, I went for the first time and had to start afresh. So these young batsmen need to travel all around the world, play different teams at home, and experience ups and downs like any other. If at the end of that three-four-year cycle they are still playing for India, then they have made a good career,” says Dravid.
When India began their second innings at Ahmedabad, Pujara walked out to open with Sehwag. It can be remarked that stepping into Dravid’s shoes would be incomplete without opening in the absence of a regular opener (Gambhir in this case). However, there is a case for not mixing two identities, letting a bud bloom and gain its own stature.
Let us remember this moment then, as the coming of Cheteshwar Pujara.
(Source)
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