5 Interesting coincidences between Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid

Cheteshwar Pujara is in a rich vein of form and it has been on display in the ongoing Test series between Australia and India. Touted as the next Rahul Dravid of Indian cricket, Pujara has almost lived up to the expectations.

The Saurashtra batsman made his debut for Team India in the year of 2010 at home against Australia. He made an immediate impression with an 89 ball 72 in the second innings of the second Test against Australia that helped India win the match along with the series.

After a string of failures against a strong South African pace attack in 2010/11, Pujara made a roaring comeback to form by scoring 159 against New Zealand at home in 2012.

The right-handed batsman has an enviable record at home, whereas his record in overseas is improving with every tour. While Pujara averages 61.86 at home in 36 games and 38.03 in 31 matches away from home, Dravid averaged 51.35 at home in 70 games and 53.03 away from home in 94 games.

Along with the similarities in batting style and approach, there are few other similarities between the two classical batsmen. In this article, let us have a look at the five interesting coincidences between Pujara and Dravid.

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#1 IPL Coincidence

Rahul Dravid represented Royal Challengers Bangalore for 3 seasons (2008, 2009 and 2010) before moving on to Rajasthan Royals in 2011. Similarly, Cheteshwar Pujara represented Royal Challengers Bangalore for 3 seasons i.e (2011, 2012 and 2013).

While Rahul Dravid had a good run in the Indian Premier League by performing well both as a batsman and as a captain, Cheteshwar Pujara couldn’t live up to the expectations in the shorter format of the game.

Both Dravid and Pujara scored their first IPL 50’s against Kings XI Punjab, while they were representing RCB. While Dravid scored 66 vs KXIP in 2008, Pujara scored 51 vs KXIP in 2013.

Another interesting coincidence is that both the players played their last IPL game against Mumbai Indians. Dravid’s last innings in IPL was against Mumbai at the Eden Gardens in 2013, while Pujara played his last IPL game against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in 2014, while he was representing Kings XI Punjab.

#2 Milestones Similarity

Rahul Dravid started his Test career in 1996 in England and was immensely consistent with the bat throughout his career. Although Pujara had his share of inconsistency in his career, he has scored big whenever it has mattered the most.

While Rahul Dravid scored runs both home and abroad equivalently, Pujara has scored a major share of his career runs in home conditions. His average of 61.87 proves his dominance at home conditions.

However, when it comes to reaching milestones, both the batsmen have been part of three milestones that have coincided. Rahul Dravid reached 3000 Test runs in 67 Innings, 4000 Test runs in 84 Innings and 5000 Test runs in 108 innings. Similarly, Cheteshwar Pujara reached 3000 Test runs in 67 innings, 4000 Test runs in 84 Innings and 5000 Test runs in 108 innings.

Rahul Dravid reached his 6000 runs in his 125th Test inning against Australia in 2003/04 and it would be interesting to see if both the batsmen coincide yet again.

#3 Love affairs with Johannesburg and Ahmedabad

We all know the fact that Rahul Dravid missed out on a century on his debut at Lord's, when he was dismissed for 95. However, he made amends by scoring his maiden Test Century against South Africa at Wanderers, Johannesburg in 1997. This century at The Wanderers is his only century in that stadium and it earned him the Man of the Match.

On a similar note, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a brilliant 153 in his first Test at The New Wanderers Stadium in 2013. This was his first overseas ton and his only ton in that particular stadium. This century earned him the Man of the Match. Surprisingly, both the games in which Dravid and Pujara were part of, ended in a draw.

Ahmedabad’s Motera Stadium holds a special place for both these batsmen. Both Pujara and Dravid have scored 1 double century at the Motera Stadium. Dravid scored 222 against New Zealand in 2002/03, whereas Pujara scored 206* vs England in 2012.

#4 Coincidences in Adelaide Test

Team India’s win against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003/04 will be forever remembered as the one of the greatest Test wins for Team India in overseas conditions. Rahul Dravid’s double century and a half-century in the two innings is considered as one of the best test knocks in the history of Indian cricket that paved way for an empathic win.

Chasing Australia’s first Innings score of 556, India were in deep trouble, losing quick wickets for not many runs. However, Dravid’s 233 helped India to score 523, which turned the game into India’s favour. In the second innings, Dravid anchored the chase of 230 by scoring 72 runs.

Similarly, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a fighting 123 in the first Innings that helped India to claw back into the game and put up a fighting total. He followed it up with 71 runs in the second innings to help India put up a stiff target for Australia to chase in the last innings.

Rahul Dravid’s double ton and half-century will go down in the record books as a century and a fifty and similar is the case with Pujara. Both the knocks of both the batsmen helped India win the game and earned them Man of the Match awards.

Another interesting coincidence is that these knocks came in their second visit to the Adelaide Oval and coincidentally this was their 16th Test ton.

#5 Other Coincidences

Both Dravid and Pujara are strong players of spin bowling. Their ability to use their feet against spinners have fetched them loads of runs in their careers. Both the batsmen are one of the players of the cut shot and this is due to their ability to go back and across while playing spin.

Their strength lies in their ability to judge the ball and play the delivery according to the merit. Rarely have they been deceived by the spinners. However, their first dismissal as stumped out in Test cricket is a coincidence.

Both the batsmen were stumped for the first time in their careers against an English spinner. While Rahul Dravid was stumped by Alec Stewart off the bowling of the Ashley Giles in Headingley in 2002, Pujara was stumped by Matt Prior off the bowling of Graeme Swann at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 2012.

Interestingly, both the incidents happened in the first Innings and day 2 of the match, and after both the batsmen had scored their respective centuries. Dravid was stumped after scoring 148, while Pujara was stumped after scoring 135.