6 overseas gems from Cheteshwar Pujara
In the era of muscles, tattooed arms, the exhibition of machismo and flamboyance Cheteshwar Pujara’s old-school methods are eventually crawling back to the mainstream.
Gambhir means serious. Virat means massive. Ajinkya means invincible. Siraj means lamp. Cheteshwar means long-lasting.
Indian cricketers have their way of keeping up to their names, and Cheteshwar Pujara is no different.
In the era of muscles, tattooed arms, the exhibition of machismo and flamboyance Pujara’s old-school methods are eventually crawling back to the mainstream.
He has often drawn the flak with the crust of criticism being intent and not fulfilling his potential on foreign soil.
In the 40 Tests that Pujara has played away from home, he has scored 2,640 runs at 37.7. In contrast, he averages almost 60 at home. Though his away numbers aren’t the greatest, he has played a sizeable role in India’s overseas outings.
Pujara’s bravery and doggedness played a critical role in India’s recent 2–1 triumph in Australia.
On his 33rd birthday, let’s look at some of the Cheteshwar Pujara specials played on foreign shores.
153 at Johannesburg, December 2013
This wasn’t the liveliest of surfaces that South Africa had produced. But this was special for Pujara and India in many ways.
This was India’s first Test post the Sachin Tendulkar-era. And Pujara was returning to South Africa after three years as the №3 of this new era.
India had managed a marginal first-innings lead. Facing an attacking comprising Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Jacques Kallis and Imran Tahir, Pujara shared a 222-run stand for the third wicket with India’s new №4 Virat Kohli.
Trivia: Cheteshwar Pujara scored 153 off 353 balls at a strike rate of 56.7. In contrast, Virat Kohli’s 96 came at a strike rate of under 50 in that innings.
South Africa chasing 458, almost pulled it off.
Brief scores
India 280 (Virat Kohli 119, Ajinkya Rahane 47; Vernon Philander 4–61, Morne Morkel 3–34) & 421 (Cheteshwar Pujara 153, Virat Kohli 96; Vernon Philander 3–68, Jacques Kallis 3–68) drew with South Africa 244 (Graeme Smith 68, Vernon Philander 59; Zaheer Khan 4–88, Ishant Sharma 4–79) & 450–7 (Alviro Peterson 76, Graeme Smith 44, Faf du Plessis 134, AB de Villiers 103; Mohammed Shami 3–107)
145* at Colombo, August 2015
This has to be my favourite Pujara knock. He lost his place in the first two Test thanks to the perception of lack of intent. Opening in the innings on a green track, Pujara held the wobbly Indian batting like glue and carried the bat. The innings set the platform for the first-ever series win for Virat Kohli.
Brief scores
India 312 (Cheteshwar Pujara 145*, Amit Mishra 59; Dhammika Prasad 4–100, Rangana Herath 3–84) & 274 (Rohit Sharma 50, Stuart Binny 49, Ravichandran Ashwin 58; Dhammika Prasad 4–69, Nuwan Pradeep 4–62) beat Sri Lanka 201 (Kusal Perera 55, Rangana Herath 49; Ishant Sharma 5–54) & 268 (Angelo Mathews 110, Kusal Perera 70; Ishant Sharma 3–32, Ravichandran Ashwin 4–69) by 117 runs
50 at Johannesburg, January 2018
Unlike the one they played in four years back, India were greeted with a minefield at the Wanderers. Pujara would finally get off the mark on the 54th ball he would face. It was the start of several memorable blockathon that he would play over the years.
Kohli would go for his shots, but Pujara wouldn’t. The combo of fire and ice worked in India’s favour as they managed 187 on a torrid surface.
The number of balls consumed by Pujara allowed the batters to play around him. The Indian innings lasted 460 balls, out of which Pujara’s tenure lasted 350 with him playing more than half of it. This set up the platform, and India pulled off one of their most incredible wins.
Brief scores
India 187 (Cheteshwar Pujara 50, Virat Kohli 54; Kagiso Rabada 3–39) & 247 (Virat Kohli 41, Ajinkya Rahane 45; Vernon Philander 3–61, Kagiso Rabada 3–69, Morne Morkel 3–47) beat South Africa 194 (Hashim Amla 61; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3–44, Jasprit Bumrah 5–54) & 177 (Dean Elgar 86, Hashim Amla 52; Mohammed Shami 5–28) by 63 runs
132* at Southampton, August 2018
An innings of this quality deserved the winning podium. Pujara’s knock gave India a real chance to win the Test. Inability to tackle Sam Curran’s willow, Ravichandran Ashwin’s injury and poor application in the second innings cost India the Test.
I repeat. An innings of this quality deserved a win.
Brief scores
England 246 (Moeen Ali 40, Sam Curran 78; Jasprit Bumrah 3–46) & 271 (Joe Root 48, Jos Buttler 69, Sam Curran 46; Mohammed Shami 4–57) beat India 273 (Cheteshwar Pujara 132*, Virat Kohli 46; Stuart Broad 3–63, Moeen Ali 5–63) & 184 (Virat Kohli 58, Ajinkya Rahane 51; Moeen Ali 4–71) by 60 runs
123 at Adelaide, December 2018
Pujara would go on to make this series his own. Under pressure, on Day One of the Test, he would craft a masterpiece to keep India ahead in the Test. He would play another fine hand in the second innings to put India in a reasonable position before the bowlers came to the party.
Brief scores
India 250 (Cheteshwar Pujara123; Josh Hazlewood 3–52) & 307 (KL Rahul 44, Cheteshwar Pujara 71, Ajinkya Rahane 70; Mitchell Starc 3–40, Nathan Lyon 6–122) beat Australia 235 (Travis Head 72; Jasprit Bumrah 3–47, Ravichandran Ashwin 3–57) & 291 (Shaun Marsh 60; Jasprit Bumrah 3–68, Ravichandran 3–92, Mohammed Shami 3–65) by 31 runs
56 at Brisbane, January 2021
By now, Pujara was breaking records. One record of slowest fifty would be broken by another. A section felt bored, and the talks around intent resurfaced, but many including me began enjoying the show.
Pujara was making these top-class bowlers bowl their best to dismiss him. The Australians toiled, ran hard, hurled in at 140k+, only to be dead-batted.
He was tiring the Australian bowlers, and the rest of the lineup batted around him. If one of your batters bats like that and you do the unthinkable by beating a strong Australian side 2–1 at their backyard, then I think it’s a flaw (including me) in how people perceive intent than Pujara’s batting.
There were blows on the body. There were dead bats aplenty, but Pujara continued till the second new ball in the fourth innings before Rishabh Pant finished things off in style.
Brief scores
Australia 369 (Marnus Labuschagne 108, Matthew Wade 45, Cameron Green 47, Tim Paine 50; T Natarajan 3–78, Shardul Thakur 3–94, Washington Sundar 3–89) & 294 (David Warner 48, Steve Smith 55; Mohammed Siraj 5–73, Shardul Thakur 4–61) lost to India 336 (Rohit Sharma 44, Washington Sundar 62, Shardul Thakur 67; Josh Hazlewood 5–57) & 329–7 (Shubman Gill 91, Cheteshwar Pujara 56, Rishabh Pant 89*; Pat Cummins 4–55) by three wickets
