Late American playwright John Patrick had once said: “Pain makes man think. Thought makes man wise. Wisdom makes life endurable.” Cheteshwar Pujara’s greatest strength is knowing his limitations. It’s an attribute that goes unrecognised. But it’s a vital part of a human being’s mental make-up. Knowing what you can do and where you stand. His retirement is yet one more reminder. He has given it his all. He knew there was nothing more left to give. He has decided to move on and with grace.
This attribute was best evident to me when he described his approach to Nathan Lyon in 2021, someone he had trouble against in 2017. “To be honest, I had issues with Nathan Lyon when he toured India in 2017. In 2021, Anil bhai had helped me plan differently for him. Even after Adelaide (where India were all out for 36), Anil bhai sent me a text, and it helped me counter Lyon. I am glad our strategy worked and he wasn’t able to do much damage right through the series,” said Cheteshwar in a conversation soon after the 2021 Australia tour.
🚨 Cheteshwar Pujara announces retirement from all forms of cricket pic.twitter.com/DUnIapmQbl
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Sample this: It was an inter-district match at Saurashtra’s Bhavnagar in 2006. Rajkot had lost the match. It ended by lunch time on the last day and 18-year-old Cheteshwar Pujara quickly called up his mother Reena after boarding a Rajkot-bound bus. It was sometime during the afternoon. That was the last time Cheteshwar heard Reena Pujara’s voice. He reached Rajkot in the evening but his father was nowhere around to pick him up. Those who went there to receive Cheteshwar broke the news to him. It was difficult for him to believe that the person he loved most in this world was no more. He was devastated for a few days. But then he won’t be Cheteshwar Pujara – India’s very own ‘Man of Steel’, if he would have allowed the tragedy to force him enter a dark zone. He didn’t shed a single tear and and on the fifth day he was in Mumbai for a U-19 game for Saurashtra. He scored a zero in that game but had showed the heart to deal with grief.
If there was ever a choice between taking some blows on the body or getting out like there was in Australia in January 2021, Cheteshwar always chose the later. He chose pain for he needed to be out there for India and help the team either draw or win the game.
His critics might say that batsmen like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma or Rishabh Pant have a bigger range of shots. They are correct in saying so. But for every Lionel Messi with the aura and grace that he exhibits, one needs a Jordi Alba. For India, Cheteshwar brought that balance for more than a decade.
One of the greatest captains the cricket world has ever seen, Clive Lloyd is also one of the best thinkers of the game. Sipping his wine at the Grande Hotel in London, he had once told me, “On difficult wickets you need to bat ugly.”
That’s why Cheteshwar. He was prepared to look ugly. Be away from the glare of the IPL and look ugly. And win India games by doing so.
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