“The wall of contemporary cricket”- Cheteshwar Pujara to become 13th Indian to play 100th Test match
Critics will continue to scoff at him due to his low strike rate, but the dressing room knows his importance.
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Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara is just one Test away from becoming the 13th cricketer to play 100th Test match for India. He will reach the milestone during the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series on Friday (February 17) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
“Yes, it will be my 100th Test match, but you still have a job to do for the team and you focus on that a bit more,” Pujara, who is a one-format player, told in an interview with ESPNCricinfo ahead of the second Test. “Firstly, it’s the love for the game. My passion has become my profession. I never dreamt of doing anything else apart from playing cricket. I don’t need any kind of motivation to do well,” he added.
He came into the limelight after scoring a triple century at the Under-14 level, and then a double century at the Under-19 level against England. He was scoring runs on the flat Rajkot track in Ranji Trophy, for which he was criticized. In an illustrious career spanning 13 years, Pujara’s debut for India in Tests did not come instantly. He had to wait for six years after making his first-class cricket debut to play his maiden match for India.
He got out for four runs in his debut Test innings against Australia on a turning wicket in Bengaluru in 2010 but went on to score 72 in the second innings. Fans would say back then that Pujara would perfectly fit well in the place of Rahul Dravid, not due to the technique but the mindset.
That debut 72 off just 89 balls was a quick one; so unlike his technique now. He faces scrutiny over the way he plays, notwithstanding that, he is a rare and successful defenceman in an era of counterattacking batsmen.
Check how fans on Twitter have reacted to his 100th Test match:
Related: Cheteshwar Pujara growing from strength to strength after stint in County Cricket with Sussex
Dressing room knows the importance of Cheteshwar Pujara
Critics will continue to scoff at him due to his low strike rate, but the dressing room knows his importance. In 2016, at the Gros Islet Test, he was dropped for his low strike rate. But Virat Kohli’s poor show against the new ball again gave an opportunity to Pujara who would score 1140 runs in the 2017 calendar year and stood below top scorer Steven Smith.
The stats will only prove why his contribution, despite playing a lot of balls, has been impactful for Team India. His ride wasn’t easy. He was dropped several times but proved his value every time. That’s how he amassed 7021 runs in 99 Test matches with the highest being an unbeaten 206-run knock, including 19 centuries and 34 fifties.
Since his debut in 2010, only four batsmen have faced more deliveries than him- Joe Root, Alastair Cook, Azhar Ali, and Steven Smith. Pujara is fifth on the list, having faced 15,797 deliveries. At the same time, if looked at the runs scored by another batsman when Pujara is at the crease, 15,804 partnership runs are scored by India, with Pujara’s contribution of 30.6 percent of India’s runs.
He is a team man and does what is required for cricket. He is quite an old-school cricketer; spends more time in the nets than in the gym and has a tailor-made body that knows how to bat for a longer period of time. When everyone thought his career for India is over last year, he scored 90 and an unbeaten 102 against Bangladesh and would later take the Player of the Series award. The interesting thing is that he will be playing his 100th Test versus Australia- the same team he made his debut against in 2010.
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