Duleep Trophy 2016: Cheteshwar Pujara returns to doing what he does best

Buoyed by Pujara’s 166 and centuries from opener Mayank Agarwal and middle order batsman Sheldon Jackson, India Blue registered a mammoth 707 in their first innings to literally bat out India Green of the game. India Blue, after having secured a single point from their first game, are sitting pretty and are almost through to the Duleep Trophy final against Yuvraj Singh’s India Red. Raina’s team would now need to score 708 over the next two days if they want to scuttle Blue’s chances.

On a day when batsmen ruled the roost, it was Pujara who hogged the limelight on Day 2. And ahead of a long and arduous season at home, this knock was definitely the spark he was looking for, especially after experiencing indifferent form over the last 12 months in international cricket.

But Pujara exuded confidence ahead of the long domestic season. “It is always good to play some domestic matches ahead of the international season. I am looking forward to the season ahead. A century here will definitely give me confidence,” Pujara told BCCI.TV after his ton on Monday. Since that majestic ton against Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo last year, he has managed to score only a single fifty in eight innings spanning six Tests and nine innings.

However, Pujara was not overtly worried about his poor conversion rate, a malaise that has made his spot uncertain in the side.”I feel I am batting well without worrying too much about it and at the same time, I realise I played a bad shot in the last Test match when I was looking really good. I did the hard work in the first session when the ball was moving. I played a bad shot and there are things to learn from that particular game. Overall, the team did well and I am really happy with the way things are going,” he said.

On the face of it, his comments illustrated that it was just a mental block more than any career-stalling technical issue that was bogging him. As India gears up to play 13 Tests at home over the next seven months, Pujara will be a vital cog in Virat Kohli’s team. In a team of aggressive stroke-makers, he will be the calming influence, the player providing stability at the top of the order.

To clearly understand his viability in the upcoming Tests at home, one needs to just look at his career stats. Pujara has featured in 35 Tests so far, of which 17 were played at home. He has scored 1481 runs here at an impressive average of 64.43. In the remaining 18 Tests abroad, he has scored only 1001 runs. But the average here dipped to a below par 29.44.

Another interesting aspect is that five of his seven Test tons have come on the dust bowls in India. These stats underscored Pujara’s worth. Two reasons why he has been so prolific at home has been because of his ability to counter the reverse swing and the turn the opposition bowlers have managed to exploit. The classic example of this feature came in November 2012, in the second Test against England at the Wankhede.

As the Indian middle, which still had Sachin Tendulkar, order crumbled against the spin and guile of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, Pujara stood like a rock amidst the ruins. An exquisitely crafted 135 — his third Test ton — helped India reach a respectable score while batting first. Mahendra Dhoni’s side eventually lost that match, but Pujara’s knock was an exhibition of skill and temperament against top-class bowling.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how and where Kohli decides to play Pujara. Kohli, unlike his predecessors, has shown his propensity to make wholesale changes in his squad based on match form, conditions and his gut feel. Pujara, on his part, said he preferred to bat at the No. 3 spot, but added that he was ready to bat anywhere in the order based on the team’s needs. “If you ask me, No.3 is my preferred slot, but I am ready to bat anywhere as per my team’s requirements,” he added.

Brief Scores: India Blue 707 in 176.3 overs (C Pujara 166, Mayank Agarwal 161, Sheldon Jackson 105, S Gopal 5/173) vs India Green.