The India captain has come out in defence of Cheteshwar Pujara and the criticism that the India Test No. 3 is facing.
Pujara has been a vital cog of the Indian Test batting line-up. However, he has gone through a lean patch in the last three years. There is no doubt that the Indian Test No. 3 has played some crucial knocks, especially in Australia, but the big scores have eluded Pujara.
Since scoring that 193 at the SCG against Australia in January 2019, Pujara hasn’t scored a single ton. He has recorded nine half-centuries from 18 Test matches (and 30 innings), but his highest is 81. All of these games came in the first cycle of the World Test Championship, where he aggregated 841 runs at an average of 28.03.
Pujara played three critical knocks in Australia earlier this year. He grinded the bowlers out, and once the ball became soft, he cashed in on runs. However, the Saurashtra cricketer’s strike-rate has always been criticised. While his method of grinding out the bowlers by cashing in on the old ball worked in Australia, it may not be the case in England where the Dukes ball zips around consistently.
Hence, there has been focus on Pujara’s strike-rate once again. But the Indian captain feels that is unnecessary, and the senior batsman should be left alone. He admitted that Pujara won’t be too bothered about it either and will work on his game.
“It’s been going on for a while. A player of his calibre and experience should be left alone. It should be left to the individual to work on whatever drawbacks in his game, similarly with me and any other player in the team.
From the outside, I can say that criticism is unnecessary, but I for a fact know that Pujara doesn’t care. People can say what they want but at the end of the day, it’s just words,“
Kohli said in the press conference ahead of the five-match Test series against England.
Pujara’s record in England isn’t the greatest. He has scored 523 runs and averages 27.52 across 10 Test matches in England. Yet, he will be a key player for India in the upcoming series at No. 3.
The first Test is scheduled to be played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on the 4th of August.
