India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara's career hits rock bottom after omission from Birmingham Test

Ajit Vijaykumar 18:19 01/08/2018
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • A new low for Cheteshwar Pujara.

    Getting dropped from any team is not the end of the world. Team combination, pitch conditions and opposition some time force team managements to make strategic calls in the final XI. However, the decision to drop Cheteshwar Pujara from the India side for the first Test against England will be hard to digest not just for the player but for many cricket fans as well.

    Pujara has been out for form in red ball cricket, there is no doubt about that. He would have been under pressure had he been selected for the first Test; his recent stint in county cricket with Yorkshire was abysmal – an average of  less than 15 after 12 innings.

    Even so, Pujara is a Test specialist. Whenever India tour outside Asia, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have generally been seen as the batsmen who can hold one end together when the conditions are challenging. But for the first Test that started on Wednesday, India went in for the uncertain batting for Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order instead of the generally assured, even if sometimes unproductive, batting of Pujara.

    Yes, Pujara doesn’t score freely but in Tests you need one player in you bating order to be able to block a session or so. That someone like Dhawan who bagged a pair in the warm-up game before the Test and has a suspect technique against the moving ball was chosen ahead of Pujara would be a bitter pill to swallow.

    In 2016, Pujara was called out by the Indian management for slow scoring. From 2016 onwards, he got involved in six of India’s next eight run outs. His solid technique has also started to desert him with South Africa pace ace Dale Steyn dismissing him for successive ducks in English domestic cricket in June.

    And now he has lost his place to Dhawan whose technique against the moving ball is flaky. Pujara is not the fittest 30-year-old in the world and offers a very specific style of batting. A player who was once called the next Rahul Dravid of Indian cricket is now seen as a batsmen with excess baggage without substantial returns. It will be a long way back for Pujara if Dhawan and KL Rahul cement their positions.

    Recommended