Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Pune
The collective struggle of the Indian batting line-up in the New Zealand series raises some tough questions. Looking ahead to the tour of Australia and India’s chances of making it to the World Test Championship final, does the team need some tinkering? Should there be out of the box ideas and some unlikely decisions? Right or wrong, there is room for debate nonetheless.
Let’s start with something that sounds outlandish. What about bringing back Cheteshwar Pujara? He was the best batter by a distance in the win Down Under in 2018. Not as prolific in 2021, he was again a consistent contributor in India’s second Test series triumph in that country. He has not played since the WTC final in 2023. Does it mean he has to be written off?
Too many questions. To answer them, let’s start from the position Pujara finds himself in at the moment. He has kept himself engaged since being left out of the team. Other than the Ranji Trophy, he also takes part in the County Championship in England. Even this year, he made a century playing for Sussex in his last appearance of the season. In the previous round of the Ranji Trophy, he made 234.
This shows that he is in touch with the game. Far away from the Indian team, he has been busy scoring runs in whatever level of cricket he is playing. In world cricket, there are many examples of players being brought back from the cold for a specific purpose or series, as per the need of the hour. England had recalled Moeen Ali for the Ashes last year.
What goes in Pujara’s favour is his ability to occupy the crease. Never the most attractive, he was tellingly effective in that role and this is something that the current lot lacks. There is a lot of flamboyance, but not much perseverance. That’s what the Saurashtra batter provided and it remains an important trait in Test cricket, no matter what the new theories propagate.
For India to succeed in Australia, the team needs someone to play the holding game. Every team requires stroke-players and India have some of them. However, when it comes to grind the opposition out or win the battle of patience, there are not many names. Pujara doesn’t have to be a long-term solution, but he can perhaps be considered as a part of a horses-for-courses policy.
The counter argument is, won’t this be taking a step back when the team wants to look ahead? Recalling Pujara would amount to going against the concept of catching them young. There are players like Sai Sudharsan of Tamil Nadu, who are making runs in first-class cricket and for India A. Won’t it be prudent to blood them instead of going back to someone who has been discarded.
In principle, it makes sense to pick from those in the current lot on whom Indian cricket has invested. The A team programme was devised to groom the promising players and give them a platform which is closer to international standards than domestic cricket. Those who perform for India A deserve to be picked for India. Pujara himself is a product of that system, having captained the India A team.
Sudharsan is among the prominent ones who have used the India A opportunity to stake his claim for selection to the senior side. To overlook players like him will be undermining the A team concept. What is the point of having this system in place if players who do well in it are not considered for India selection? It will be discouraging for whole bunch of upcoming players and send wrong signals.
Having said that, Australia is not the best place to blood youngsters. You need seasoned campaigners who are familiar with the aggressive body language of the Aussies and who can look them in the eye without getting rattled. Pujara has been there and done that. Plus, he retains the hunger for runs, as was evident in the double century in his last first-class outing last week.
Writing this is not to plead Pujara’s case. This doesn’t imply that he must be brought back, come what may. This is just to provoke thoughts. Whether he will be a suitable candidate is for the selectors and the team management to decide. This sparks a timely debate. That’s all. And considering the disarray the Indian team finds itself against New Zealand, it’s a not a needless debate after all.
5@5: Should Pujara be brought back for Australia tour? Live Discussion https://t.co/VPTb02qT6f
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) October 25, 2024
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