“I wanted to score a double hundred,” said Cheteshwar Pujara during the Rajkot Test, when asked about the ten balls he faced while on 99 not out. “I wasn’t thinking about just one more run. I was thinking about getting 101 more runs.”
It has been some time since he reached that milestone, though. At the turn of 2013-14, Pujara was set in his high-scoring ways and he started off the overseas cycle in South Africa well. With 280 runs in four innings, he was India’s best Test batsman on that tour.
It all went downhill after that. The New Zealand tour thereafter was a blip, but the real downturn came in England during 2014.
When the Australian tour began later that year, Pujara acknowledged that ‘certain technical inconsistencies had impacted’ him on the previous tours, and that he was ‘looking to make amends’ Down Under. It seemed to be going well, with 73 in the first innings in Adelaide, his first fifty in nine innings. But over two Tests in Brisbane and Melbourne, his form tapered off again.
Then, the Test captaincy changed hands.
Virat Kohli brought his own ideas, as is the skipper’s prerogative, and as such, the experimentation with Rohit Sharma at number three deserved a proper run.
It didn’t come to fruition, owing to bad form from the batsman concerned. And yet, by 2015 Rohit was shafted down the order in the second Test in Colombo but Pujara wasn’t an automatic choice for number three. This is where concerns over his strike-rate truly began.
Pujara was asked to open in the third Test in Sri Lanka, and he responded with a brilliant hundred on a green-top wicket. His strike-rate during that knock was 50.17, but that hardly mattered when no other top-order batsman even crossed the 30-mark on that lively pitch.
Thereafter, against South Africa, in Mohali he scored 31 and 77 at 46.96 and 50.32. In Nagpur, on the worst pitch of that series, he scored 21 and 31 at 48.83 and 68.88. If you consider playing, say, 40 deliveries as the parameter herein, no batsman outscored him in Mohali bar Murali Vijay. In Nagpur, no one scored quicker than Pujara, period.
The criticism goal post then shifted from strike-rate to converting his starts. In West Indies, facing weakened opposition, there was the opportunity to bat only once in every match. But every time his turn came, it gave the impression that Pujara was fighting for his place in the eleven.
In Antigua, he scored 16 off 67 balls, but batted out the entire first session against the moving ball, thus providing a platform for Kohli’s maiden double hundred. The team management seemed impressed.
“I have the confidence of both the coach and captain, and they are very happy with the way I batted,” said Pujara in Jamaica. In the second Test there, he scored 46 off 159 deliveries, batting for 223 minutes. He was dropped thereafter but was included in the rained-out fourth Test.
From St. Lucia, reports emerged that the management wasn’t happy with Pujara’s rate of scoring and that they had made this displeasure known to the batsman. They also wanted to pursue a different thinking in that third Test. It was a big gamble on hindsight, considering the scorecard read 130-5 at tea on day one.
The thing about this team is their strong belief system – whether it is in the players’ abilities or their strategic decisions – and it shone through in victory in that third Test. And this shone through in that St. Lucia game, as Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane too had to make necessary changes as they moved up the order.
As such, the issue isn’t about Pujara’s strike-rate anymore. It is about making demands on a player who bats at a vital position for the Indian team, that too at a particular time when he was struggling previously to convert his starts. And then, eventually, it is about his response to the said demand.
Thanks to the washout in Trinidad, the six batsmen ploy remained an unconvincing one. Before flying home, it was apparent that the team management wanted to play seven batsmen in the New Zealand series. It only meant that Pujara would bat at three again.
Back on known turf, the Saurashtra batsman let loose with scores of 166 and 256* in the Duleep Trophy, coming at strike-rates of 59.28 and 70.52 respectively.
Then, in Kanpur, he went berserk against the Kiwi spinners. Even though he missed hundreds in both innings, taken in summation it was the standout batting performance of the series, a master-class against spin bowling.
“We did not want him to go into a shell. We want Pujara to bat to his potential. Once he starts scoring runs along with the composure he already has, it becomes very difficult for the opposition to have control on the game. That’s all we wanted to convey to him,” Kohli said in Kanpur.
It provides a glimpse into the player Pujara is, and how the team management values him as a pivotal player in their scheme of things. Any batsman can experience a down curve. But when the demand is to change your game while recovering from the setback, it isn’t the easiest thing to do.
Pujara’s adaptation has shone through brilliantly, though. With scores of 87, 41, and 101* since Kanpur, it could be said that he had rediscovered his past self. One of a joyful batsman who can stay at the crease for hours on end, his hunger and desire to dominate the bowling insatiable. This is where his hundred in Rajkot gains great significance.
Confidence – and faith – during the New Zealand series liberated him from the strike rate debate. It was much-needed time away from the spotlight, and it allowed him to focus on the job ahead. That big knock hasn’t come yet, but the differentiation is in his thinking – he wants to get there as soon as possible.
His words depicted a twinkle in his eyes, one that has been missing for a while now, re-affirming that Pujara is back to his old ways.
