Cheteshwar Pujara Forces Himself Back after a Strong County Stint: 2022

On 13^th January, Cheteshwar Pujara was walking off for what could have been his final time in the Indian Whites. India’s star in two series wins in Australia, their pillar, their boulder, has gone two years without scoring significantly. His century at Sydney in 2019 was the last for him, as he went for three years without a three-figure score. He did have a few fifties here and there with a 91 at Leeds and some rock-solid and gritty, but struggling fifties at Sydney and the Gabba.

His poor form coincided with a period of poor form for several Indian seniors. Ravindra Jadeja was injured, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli were in poor patches of their own, and in the bowling unit Ishant Sharma was going through his downfall. The lack of form from many stars led to speculations regarding an inevitable transition which started with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma getting dropped from the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

The road seemed closed, especially after Pujara failed to impress in few rounds of Ranji Cricket. His ability to buckle down and play a big knock seemed lost as Dale Steyn proclaimed during the World Test Championship Finals last year. Things got worse for Pujara, seemingly, as he found no takers in the IPL Auction, and was staring at two months without any Cricket. Cheteshwar Pujara though made wonderful use of this gap and went back to a place where he has gone over countless times in the summer. He took up a County Championship offer with Sussex and joined hands with the likes of Mohammad Rizwan for a few games in through April and May.

He played five games and was monstrous in all of them. In the first four games, Cheteshwar Pujara made four centuries. Out of those four centuries, he converted two to double hundreds while another had him make 170. He carried the batting line-up, was one of the best batters in the month, and his never say die attitude was on full display. He was solid, defensive, and also a touch more aggressive than usual as Pujara walked out with like a man on a mission in each innings.

His performance this season could bring back shades of Sourav Ganguly, who turned to domestic cricket when he was dropped. In 2005, after Sourav Ganguly was exiled from the side, Ganguly did went back to domestic cricket, and scored heavily, which made him tough to ignore. Seeing Cheteshwar Pujara do something similar helps speak volumes about the batters grittiness.

His performances have truly been tough to ignore, as Pujara is now back in the Indian squad for the final England Test. With 95 Tests behind him, Cheteshwar Pujara has now bought it back upon himself to extend his career. All through his career, he has known very little beyond Test Cricket. He has seen and helped India get out of various sticky situations over the last decade, and with Pujara back in form, the prospect of him and Virat Kohli in the middle-order seems as mouth-watering as ever.

The last time he looked in control of an innings for India was back in England, when he made a second innings 61. An year later, Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped and re-selected, and will be waiting to get back out in the middle as India look to take the series win.