Summary:
The manner in which Cheteshwar Pujara’s short career has turned out indicates test cricket is perhaps not the best form of cricket. That is what I see from the constrained view of a cricket fan in India.
Article:
Flashback to October 13, 2013 India was playing against Australia in the M Chinnswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Australia had set a target of 207 runs for India to chase down in the fourth innings. Virender Sehwag in his typical fashion slashed a four of the first ball of third over. And the cricinfo commentary yelled:
Hilfenhaus to Sehwag, FOUR, Top shot! It was slightly short in length and outside off, Sehwag opens the bat-face and punches it past backward point
Excited by the shot, I start feeling it's a positive start and waited for the next ball only to see Sehwag throw his wicket away the very next ball and trudge back to the pavilion. The game was suddenly wide open. In came the debutant Cheteshwar Pujara on the back of a first innings failure. One must credit captain Dhoni for believing in the youngster despite failing at the well protected number 5 in first innings after facing just 3 balls. The captain must have seen something in the youngster to send him at no 3 in the third over of the game to face the likes of Mitchell Johnshon and Ben Hilfenhaus. The young man marched ahead. As the spinners came on Pujara displayed a fine technique matched with impeccable confidence to step out to spinners and playing along the ground. The young man knew what he was doing. He crafted 72 off 89 balls to bring India close to the victory margin. The world believed India had possibly found a test cricketer to replace the stars in their batting line up. To say the least Pujara did really give a glimpse of it.
In the next couple of years Pujara piled heaps of runs and consolidated at number 3 in the Indian batting order in tests. His hunger for big scores and humbleness seemed to indicate India had found a gem for years to fill the void left by Rahul Dravid. The search seemed to be over. Pujara seemed to emulate Dravid not only in his pedigree for grinding in for long sessions to emerge as the top scorer but also in that he kept pushing for the one day internationals. He also did get into the squad and found his opportunity too. But he couldn’t make full use of the opportunities he got. He just didn't seem to belong to the current era of one day batsmen. He was comparatively slower in the field, he was not a big shot maker and to make matters worst he squandered the limited opportunities he got. One got an impression he was “the” test player, he was to be reserved for tests and he was to be groomed in the best possible manner for the difficult role of number 3 in the Indian test batting order. He could be that player who would play out the 5th day for a draw if we lost wickets at one end.
It all looked fine until he suddenly started to struggle overseas. He suddenly seemed trying out some bowling drills to get into the one dayers, he seemed to be completely out of touch in the IPL 2014. Come the England tour of India, he was struggling to spend the amount of time in crease he would have wished. The runs started to dry. Though he didn't seem completely out of sorts there were technical discrepancies that had started to creep into his game.
It all looked fine until he suddenly started to struggle overseas. He suddenly seemed trying out some bowling drills to get into the one dayers, he seemed to be completely out of touch in the IPL 2014. Come the England tour of India, he was struggling to spend the amount of time in crease he would have wished. The runs started to dry. Though he didn't seem completely out of sorts there were technical discrepancies that had started to creep into his game.
One wonders how did we lose out on Pujara! Why is it that in the Virat Kohli era on the back of England and Australia tours, he seems to be out of flavor? The question looming there still daunts. If he was to be made a test specialist why did he have to try out the bowling drills to be able to get into one-dayers? why did he have to struggle in the T-20s to prove he belonged to the format? Or maybe he committed the inevitable sin of falling prone to the cash rich league? It is quite possible that he could have emerged as the all format player. Much like Dravid could break into the one dayers perhaps he could have found his own way of getting into the shorter forms of the game.
It is here that we need to retrospect. It is here we need to ask questions. If he was seen as the test specialist, was the same communicated to him by the selectors? Was he groomed as a test specialist ever? Was he prepared for the tough tours ahead of time for the pivotal role he was to play in the Indian test set up? On the flip side one might say he should have understood his methods, he could have understood his role better. I don’t see why he should be earning less than those one hit wonders in the IPL. Why does he have no right to go for the financial stability that life warrants at every moment of our lives. Why should the Yusuf pathans and Manish Pandeys be earning more than him? Why should only a Shreyas Iyer be touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket and not him? Why should he earn less than those who are not entrusted with as difficult a responsibility as he was. And lastly what I find most absurd is why the cash rich BCCI not take care of a Pujara to give all the financial benefits, mentoring and guidance to be successfully able to fulfill the potential? It saddens me to see him falling behind the talented (aka Rohit) Sharma for the number 3 spot. It saddens me to see that though every big cricketer, every big official and every elite person concerned with cricket say that test cricket is the toughest and best form of cricket. Why don’t I see the cricket administration showing as much care?
If we are to take this route I wouldn't want my friends, my kids and anyone I can influence to take up test cricket? After all the same amount of success in limited overs format fetches tons more fame and money. Choosing one over the other for the passion sounds good only in literature!
It is here that we need to retrospect. It is here we need to ask questions. If he was seen as the test specialist, was the same communicated to him by the selectors? Was he groomed as a test specialist ever? Was he prepared for the tough tours ahead of time for the pivotal role he was to play in the Indian test set up? On the flip side one might say he should have understood his methods, he could have understood his role better. I don’t see why he should be earning less than those one hit wonders in the IPL. Why does he have no right to go for the financial stability that life warrants at every moment of our lives. Why should the Yusuf pathans and Manish Pandeys be earning more than him? Why should only a Shreyas Iyer be touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket and not him? Why should he earn less than those who are not entrusted with as difficult a responsibility as he was. And lastly what I find most absurd is why the cash rich BCCI not take care of a Pujara to give all the financial benefits, mentoring and guidance to be successfully able to fulfill the potential? It saddens me to see him falling behind the talented (aka Rohit) Sharma for the number 3 spot. It saddens me to see that though every big cricketer, every big official and every elite person concerned with cricket say that test cricket is the toughest and best form of cricket. Why don’t I see the cricket administration showing as much care?
If we are to take this route I wouldn't want my friends, my kids and anyone I can influence to take up test cricket? After all the same amount of success in limited overs format fetches tons more fame and money. Choosing one over the other for the passion sounds good only in literature!
