Cheteshwar Pujara: The Rock Leaves After Taking Over From the Wall

Famous Number Threes around the World of Test Cricket are known for their grit and resilience. For India, two will always stand out in history. Rahul Dravid, the bridge between the openers, a swinging or seaming new-ball attack, and Sachin Tendulkar at number four. Cheteshwar Pujara, the one who stood between the openers who were often good strokemakers and Virat Kohli. To many, though, Pujara stands an anomaly. In an era where T20 Cricket boomed and runs became a form of currency, Pujara stood and showed the value of the art of blocking, leaving, and patiently taking balls onto the body.

His Test debut alone was a matter of patience. After churning out runs in the domestic circuit for a good five years, Cheteshwar Pujara finally got his due in 2010. It was not to be, though, with Pujara waiting patiently for six hours with Sachin Tendulkar and his future partner in crime Murali Vijay having fun against the Australian bowlers. He struggled to take on Mitchell Johnson going back after facing three balls. In the second innings though, Pujara got his chance. Rahul Dravid, idol to many, graciously moved down a spot and let Pujara go at three allowing the youngster to play a brisk knock to see India through a tricky chase and also announce himself on the international circuit.

With India touring and the legendary trio of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid phasing out, Cheteshwar Pujara got his next proper run in the following season at home. 12 games at home and Pujara announced himself properly with centuries and double centuries in the home season. Could he replicate the same overseas though? With India heading to South Africa, it was a Test for a young Indian batting unit. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay and the trio of Rahane, Kohli and Pujara embarked against the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. It was here that Pujara proved he can do the same overseas playing a magnificent second innings knock at Johannesburg, making 153 to get India to a really good score. 

The next generation of batting announced themselves with scores in South Africa and New Zealand that year while they also did well in Australia where Pujara had some struggles. The generation was set, though and Pujara found partners first in Murali Vijay who left the ball as good as anyone and Virat Kohli and Rahane. He became the man of Grit in the Indian side and his efforts came to the fore even more against the Australian attack. Pujara stood out in 2017 with an innings that will still hurt the fingers of Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe in Ranchi, making 202 after playing more than 500 balls.

 In an era where the art of playing spin dwindled, Cheteshwar Pujara along with Murali Vijay found ways to get through. Pujara's style of keeping the pad beside the bat has helped him save himself from the LBW, frustrating Nathan Lyon so many times. His battles with Nathan Lyon are a separate chapter with both sharing interesting banter over their careers. They faced of 1158 times in Test Cricket, with Pujara dismissed ten times and only once LBW.

On extreme Pitches Pujara's abililty came more on show. He took 54 balls to get off the mark on a treachourous Wanderers Track and went on to make a gritty fifty later on. During the second half of his career, when sides started to find more restrictive methods Pujara did feel the heat. It was evident in the 2021 BGT when Cummins had him under more discomfort. Pujara though managed to find more gritty runs. The strike-rate went slower but the runs did not dry up too much and the effect was evident with Pujara playing the famous key roles in Sydney and the Gabba. He stopped making the big hundreds but still got crucial fifties, a slow burn 40 in Lords and a 60 in Oval to flip the game for India. 

Time though did catch up on him with his failures in the WTC Final the last straw. While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma too struggled, Cheteshwar Pujara was the one who took the fall, dropping out for the side in what turned out to be the final blow to his international career. He did cointineu to churn runs though for both Sussex and Saurashtra, enjoying County Cricket a lot in the last four years of his careers. Pujara though, dropped, still had perspective in his stats. He averaged 31 in his last 24 Tests while the six batters India tried at number three also averaged the same 31. Pujara though now leaves on his own terms with wonder on whether he could have stayed on a little longer for one final push in the national side.