To modern-day batters, Cheteshwar Pujara was a throwback to a bygone era. He represented traditional Test cricket. Like his predecessor, Rahul Dravid, Pujara batted time. He tired the opposition out. This was his method and thrive for over a decade, but Pujara’s style benefitted his teammates as well.
Pujara & Kohli on the same level in Tests
His former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, who played alongside Pujara for 12 years, thinks he was equally important for Team India’s success in the 2010s as Virat Kohli. As India’s number three, he blunted the ball and delayed Kohli’s entry point. During his career, no one played more balls at the position than him: 14864.
We saw Shubman Gill play long innings every time he came out to bat much later in the innings against England. Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan may not have scored enough runs, but they delayed Gill’s entry point. That’s exactly what Pujara did for Kohli.
Both also formed a formidable partnership. They scored 3513 runs together in 83 innings at an average of 43.37, with 7 hundred-run and 18 fifty-run stands between them. Only seven other Indian partnerships have amassed more runs.
“What did Cheteshwar Pujara stand for in Indian cricket? I said his contributions are no less than Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Obviously, a lot of people talk about their contributions. The attention is not there. Not every cricketer gets the attention, but that does not mean their contribution is any less. Pujara’s contribution at No. 3, believe it or not, was instrumental in helping Virat Kohli also make a lot of his runs,” Ashwin said on Ash ki Baat.
Most Test runs for India during Pujara’s career
| Batter | Matches | Runs | Average | Balls Faced | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 109 | 8479 | 48.72 | 15320 | 28 | 28 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 103 | 7195 | 43.60 | 16217 | 19 | 35 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 83 | 5066 | 38.96 | 10209 | 12 | 26 |
| Murali Vijay | 54 | 3649 | 38.81 | 7967 | 12 | 13 |
| Rohit Sharma | 50 | 3437 | 45.22 | 6126 | 9 | 14 |
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