Cheteshwar Pujara: India's trump card against Australia

Cheteshwar Pujara

A rare failure against England, notwithstanding, the batsman largely touted as India’s next Wall, Cheteshwar Pujara, has been the backbone of the batting line-up. The man from Saurashtra is just 24 matches old at the Test match level, but he has already notched up two double tons. He made his Test debut way back in 2010 against Australia as a replacement for VVS Laxman.

Brilliant start to Test career

It was in the second innings of that match, when he was sent ahead of his idol Rahul Dravid at number three, that he scored an assured 72 to guide India to victory. It was the first time that the world saw how astonishingly close he was to Dravid, both in his technique and temperament.

The man could do no wrong scoring double centuries against Australia and England, en route to becoming the second fastest Indian to reach the 1000 run mark. Experts though were willing to wait and watch, for he had scored almost all of his runs at home.

The South African tour wiped out all the doubts regarding his ability to amass runs abroad in bowler-friendly conditions. What was even more heartening to see was that his mammoth score of 150 came against the world’s best fast bowlers - Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel. He looked completely at home in those alien conditions and attached an enormous price tag to his wicket.

There comes a phase in everyone’s career when you go through a dry season. With the New Zealand tour, began a batting slump that carried on to the England series. Pujara got starts in the first couple of Tests but failed to convert it into a big score. Thereafter, in the next three Tests, Pujara was troubled by in-swinging deliveries and the bowlers kept disturbing the timber on a regular basis. It was not as if a huge technical glitch had creeped into his batting, but it was just that he was unlucky to get some unplayable deliveries, that would have got even the most technically perfect batsmen out.

Setting high standards

Pujara sets very high standards for himself and the failure did not go down well with him. He immediately signed up for Derbyshire after the to iron out the flaws in his game. The failure has made the 26-year-old hungrier and he would want to make up for the lost opportunities in England and New Zealand.

"The experience of having played Test cricket over the last one year in places like South Africa, New Zealand and England is definitely an advantage while preparing for a tough tour like Australia. As a player, these conditions present a different challenge. Over a period of time when you play in different countries, it allows one to work out the deficiencies that may have developed in your technique," Pujara said.

The Saurashtra batsman loves to play the cut shot and is very good on the back foot. This will come in handy on bouncy tracks down under. The prolific run scorer is gifted with a lot of patience and concentration and it is highly unlikely that the Aussies would be able to ruffle him by resorting to sledging. Adopting such a strategy, could easily backfire on them and help Pujara concentrate that much more.

While the focus will be on other flamboyant players like Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, Pujara could turn out to be the silent assassin for the Aussies. If he can get his act together, then the Indian batting unit could end posting huge totals on the board. The Saurashtra stalwart could well be India’s trump card down under.