In Ranchi Test, Pujara strikes at own sweet rate
NEWDELHI: As Cheteshwar Pujara turned anxiety in the Indian dressing room on the second day of the Ranchi Test into anticipation of victory by stumps on Day 4, some numbers were held up to give perspective to the innings that turned things around. Pujara’s 202 came off 525 balls, the first time an India Test batsman had faced 500 deliveries in an innings. There was no six, and 84 came in boundaries (21x4). But the number Pujara was not asked about this time was his strike rate. After the match, India skipper Virat Kohli was all praise, although Australia held on to ensure a draw. “People don’t understand his importance so much in this team and what a valuable player he is for us.” What a change a season can make? Pujara’s double ton took his aggregate to 1,259 runs at 66.26 from 12 Tests in this interminable home season. But Pujara had begun his ‘home run’ in a less than ideal mindset after being told by the skipper to get a move on. On the West Indies tour last summer, he was dropped after scores of 16 (67 balls) and 46 (159 balls) in the first two Tests and told to improve his strike rate. Coach Anil Kumble, asked about this strange ultimatum to a key player, declared strike rate had no relevance in Test cricket. Kohli had said after the first-Test win over New Zealand in Kanpur: “Pujara is someone who absorbs the pressure really well, but after a certain stage in the innings there comes a time when the team needs runs.” But Kohli knew what Pujara’s knock had been invaluable, in Ranchi as well as Bangalore, where his 92 and century stand with Ajinkya Rahane put India on the victory path. Rahul Dravid would feel the kindred spirit with the man who succeeded him as the No 3. Dravid too had to silence doubters. He was told early in his career (by former Aussie skipper Ian Chappell) that cricket was about scoring runs and taking wickets. Traditionally, the No 3 batsman is the most accomplished, but doesn’t get excited when he has to open. Dravid, as skipper on the 2006 Pakistan tour, opened and hit back-to-back centuries, raising a 410-run stand with Virender Sehwag at Lahore. Pujara, on the 2015 Sri Lanka tour, was out, after failures in England and Australia. He didn’t get to play in the first two Tests, and got in only as opener in the third after Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan were injured. There was no sign of inner turmoil as Pujara weighed in with 145 not out on a grassy SSC pitch. His career shook again in the Caribbean, but Pujara has through this home season, showed substance over style can never go out of fashion. For the record, Pujara’s strike rate in Ranchi was 38.47.