Busting Cheteshwar Pujara and his overseas myth

Even as India hammered their way past Sri Lanka to conclude 2017 on a winning note, most of the cricket following fraternity in the country had already begun shifting their focus to 2018 and the overseas challenge that lay ahead.

The team under Virat Kohli had won nine Test series in a row, most of them dominant wins, but questions on everyone's mind was: Can this team go a level higher and show it has the potential to becoming a 'great' team from being a 'good' team by achieving the same kind of success abroad?

Now, if one glances at teams from the past, who have tasted success across all conditions in all countries, the common factor in them is the presence of a few players who always find ways to adapt and succeed.

Expectations were naturally high from Virat Kohli to perform well in South Africa, but there was one other player, on whom a lot of hopes were pinned upon.

Cheteshwar Pujara went to the rainbow nation as a rejuvenated player, after having had a stellar home season, where he contributed a great deal to India's success.

The right-hander, who was part of the squad that travelled in 2013 and excelled with the bat on that occasion, had well-and-truly established himself as the deserved Number 3 in the batting order and looked good to succeed in South Africa.

However, two Test matches into the tour, and it seems like those who predicted a good time for him have been made to eat their own words.

In the four innings so far, Pujara has managed a mere 49 runs at an average of 12.50 and it has meant that the other middle and lower-order batsmen have been put under pressure.

Add to the low scores, his manner of dismissals in the second Test came under further flak among his fans as he became the first Indian batsman to head back to the pavilion, run out in both innings of the Test match.

Many players in the present team play all three or at least two formats of the game for India.

Pujara, however, isn't one of those and to understand as to how much effort he has put to become a good player across conditions in the longer format, one can look at how in the last three years, he has unhesitantly left the urge of playing in the Indian Premier League and instead, gone to England to play county cricket in the early part of the English summer, where batting conditions are among the toughest.

Yet, when it has mattered, the right-hander has been unable to put his head down and score big against a very skilful attack

Often, the technique is something that is stressed upon enormously when it comes to playing good quality fast bowling.

The best batsmen of their generation possessed the ability to counter different conditions by adapting their game accordingly.

While few would dispute against Pujara having a good defence as well as a precise understanding of where his off-stump is as well, sometimes the slow nature of his game seems to be counter-productive as well.

In the four innings that he has played so far, the right-hander has not been able to reach the 50-mark in terms of strike rate even once and that has invariably put pressure on him and the team as well, in terms of the scoring rate.

Is Pujara as good as he's been made to look overseas?

When we have often spoken of Indian batsmen and their record overseas, invariably, Pujara's name does come up as someone who is expected to do well.

But numbers from his previous tours abroad tell a slightly different story.

In his 56-match Test career so far, Pujara has played 37 of them in Asian conditions and his average is an impressive 65. 55.

But the moment he steps foot in other parts of the world, the numbers begin to look a lot more different.

In Africa, he has made 360 runs in 6 matches at an average of 32. In the United Kingdom, he averages 22.20 in 5 matches and in Australia and New Zealand those averages rise marginally to 26.10 in the same number of matches as the UK.

A simpler home-and-away split sees Pujara's average fall from exactly 50 at home to 43 away from it.

The stats are an indication of a player, on whom a lot of expectations have been placed courtesy his showings at home, but how the player has not been able to rise and deliver to those hopes.

However, the public pinning those hopes on him is something that he can't escape and the sooner he understands that and find a way to start meeting them, the better it would be for him and Indian cricket.

2018 provides him with a good chance to do that. Post South Africa, India travel to England in July for a five-match Test series alias 2014 and post that they travel to Australia for a four-match Test series, stretching into the New Year.

The opportunities are there for the taking, but the answer to whether Pujara will grab them, we will know very soon.