New Delhi: The last time India had played consecutive test matches at home was back in the 2012-13 season, in which Cheteshwar Pujara scored a whopping 857 runs in 10 matches including two double hundreds and a century. Fast forward to present scenario, Pujara now finds himself uncertain of a spot in the playing XI as India sets up for its longest ever home season in recent times with as many as 13 tests lined up.
At this situation, the Duleep Trophy might prove to be the last opportunity for Pujara to make a case for himself in the playing XI as India Blue takes on India Green in a virtual semi final clash at Greater Noida tomorrow.
The Saurashtra batsman, regarded as one with a solid technique was considered an ideal replacement of Rahul Dravid at No.3 for India. But of late, Pujara has not been able to live up to his own high standards and with the arrival of KL Rahul, his position in the team has become more vulnerable.
21, 14, 28, 16, 46; these are Pujara’s scores in his last five innings, compare that with Rahul, who has notched up two centuries in his last four appearances, Pujara surely finds himself in rough weather. A strike rate of 46.83 doesn’t help his cause either, especially when his captain wants all of his batsmen to play positive Cricket and score quickly.
To be fair to Pujara, he did look good in his inning of 46 at Sabina Park against the West indies, doing all the hard work of seeing off the new ball, but an unfortunate run out cut his innings short and eventually resulted in his exclusion for the third test in St. Lucia. This, perhaps has been the biggest problem with him in recent times, he has somehow forgotten to convert his starts into something big. A solid 30 may not be enough when there are so many contenders vouching for a spot in the team.
With Virat Kohli giving strong indications of going in with five specialist bowlers, the No. 3 spot becomes even more crucial and for Pujara, it will be important to score big whenever he gets his opportunity.
Starting with his next assignment of the Duleep trophy, with the pink ball experiment, the 64 year old tournament is going through a transition of its own. But for Pujara, it will be something more than just another first class appearance when he turns up for his first ever day-night match in whites.
It will be upto him to send a timely reminder to his captain and the selectors when they sit to pick the squad for the upcoming three match Test series against New Zealand. He has his work cut out though, with the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha in their ranks, India Green surely looks a formidable side on paper.