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Former India player Deep Dasgupta believes Cheteshwar Pujara is not in the right frame of mind at the moment. He reckons Pujara is thinking about his scoring rate and playing far too many shots.
India’s No.3 batter was dismissed poking at a James Anderson delivery outside his off-stump on Day 1 of the second Test against England. The dismissal was uncharacteristic of Pujara, who is renowned for his tight defence and soft hands.
Deep Dasgupta pointed out that Cheteshwar Pujara was pushing at almost every delivery with hard hands, eventually leading to his cheap dismissal.
“He (Cheteshwar Pujara) seems to be pushing at everything. And that’s not him. I mean, at his peak as well, he wasn’t striking at a very high rate. The strike rate is not his issue. But, it seems that he is thinking about it. And that’s where he is getting into this really, really bad place now. And not just that, there was just one delivery where there was a dead defence. Apart from that, everything else, there was a push from him, and that’s just not him,” Dasgupta said on BBC’s Test Match Special.
Dasgupta went on to explain how an in-form Pujara would employ soft hands to counter the swing so that even edges don’t carry to the slips.
“If you look at Pujara and when he is batting really well, you would see soft hands and even if you see those edges, chances are that they won’t carry to the slip. But right through the innings, small as it was, it seemed like he was pushing at almost everything.”
Cheteshwar Pujara is trying to bat like someone else, reckons Deep Dasgupta
Dasgupta reckons that Cheteshwar Pujara is trying to bat like someone else. He has been successful throughout his career with his defensive game and changing it at this point could be tough.
The former wicketkeeper-batsman said:
“He is trying to bat like someone else. He has played 87 Test matches the way he has so far. And suddenly after 87 Test matches, it’s very difficult to teach an old hag a new trick. And that’s what he is trying to do and that’s a concern for me. Let’s just leave him alone, the way he bats. If he is not getting runs, that’s an issue, not his strike rate.”
Cheteshwar Pujara has struck a lean patch over the last couple of years. He last reached the three-figure mark against Australia in January 2019 and has averaged just 27 ever since. Pujara has also failed to score more than 25 in his last 10 innings, which will be a cause of concern for India.
