IPL Auction 2017: Cheteshwar Pujara hoping to make his comeback in upcoming edition

What’s the story?

Despite averaging over 50 in both first-class and List-A cricket, Cheteshwar Pujara has always been seen as a Test batsman who can’t play many shots and the 29-year-old is hopeful that the perception will change and he will get picked in the IPL Auction that will take place in Bengaluru on February 20.

Although Pujara hasn’t played an IPL game since 2014, he has been in excellent form in the shorter formats for Saurashtra and even scored a T20 century in the DY Patil Tournament. He is hoping that his perception will change, starting with an IPL contract after putting his name in the pool for the auction.

"I am very hopeful that perception will go soon. I have got a T20 hundred in a DY Patil Tournament. Probably I am batting freely, I have added a few shots to my game, which is helping me. Even in Test format, the way I am striking the ball, the way I have been batting in the last few series, I have changed my game, which is helping me in T20 and one-day game. In near future I think things will change,” Pujara said.

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The context

The 29-year-old has played in the IPL for three different teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab and the last of his IPL matches came in the 2014 season when he was playing for Kings XI. Since then, he has established himself as the opener in Saurashtra’s T20 side and in the recently concluded DY Patil T20 tournament, he scored a century and fifty for Indian Oil, for whom he finished as the tournament’s leading run-getter.

The details:

With a List-A average in excess of 54, Pujara has shown throughout his career that he isn’t just a one-format player even if he has played more than double the amount of first-class matches as compared to T20s.

However, his record in the IPL where he played for three different teams across five seasons don’t make for impressive reading. In an IPL career, that spanned 30 matches, he averaged just 20 and has a strike rate below 100. His three years with RCB, in particular, reeked of a player who isn’t fit for the format but he has come through leaps and bounds since then.

Although his career T20 average of 25 and strike rate of 105 aren’t bad, they aren’t numbers which immediately warrant attention and with more explosive options at the top order being the order of the day, he has always been overlooked. But after impressive performances for Saurashtra and signal of intent during his fifty in the second innings against Bangladesh, he is hoping the winds of change blow towards his direction and results in an IPL contract.

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What’s next?

After India's one-off Test against Bangladesh, their next assignment is the four-match Test series against Australia, beginning on February 23. Before that, however, is the small matter of the IPL Auction 2017 in Bengaluru on February 20, where plenty of players will go under the hammer.

Sportskeeda’s Take

While it is true that Pujara has come a long way as a T20 batsman, his numbers aren’t exactly extraordinary and the fact that his impact on the game significantly decreases when he doesn’t open doesn’t help him either. In a format where fast starts are the order of the day and at a time when most IPL teams have largely settled opening pairs, it looks as Pujara, despite his impressive form in T20s will go unsold as he did last year.