Cheteshwar Pujara and the importance of intent

Ever since Virat Kohli assumed the captaincy of India, the team’s mantra has been showing the right intent.

After coping with rough waters under MS Dhoni’s captaincy during the first half of the decade, the India Test team demolished all opposition at home and there was a buzz when they began their tour of ‘SENA’ countries in 2018.

A competitive Test series was played in South Africa, then the Indians were outsmarted in England by a certain debutant Sam Curran. What began as a promising period quickly turned into another case of ‘so close yet so far’.

Nonetheless, Kohli kept the team together and the morale high, and the crowning moment of his era came with a historic series win Down Under.

The lead protagonist of that victory was the unheralded Cheteshwar Pujara, a batsman who should have been born in a different era. He out-batted his teammates, the opposition and his detractors during the four-match Test series.

Although Steve Smith and David Warner were out, Pujara still had to face the like of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon – probably the best attack in the world – in their own backyard.

Even the Australians admitted they paid attention to Kohli, while Pujara kept grinding their bowlers to the ground.

Kohli obviously lauded Pujara for his efforts and even labeled him as a ‘white walker’ for the ability to face anything but fire from the opposition.

The Indian team looked settled, with a brilliant batting line up and well-oiled bowling unit.

Fast forward a year and a series loss in New Zealand has seen Kohli question the intent of some of his batsmen after their over-cautious approach.

Not a surprise the batsman again questioned has been Pujara.

Cheteshwar Pujara (AAP Image/Hamish Blair)

Intent may be the most used word by Virat during his press briefings, wherein he regularly says the intent should always be there. But sadly, for Pujara, it has been confused with aggression, which is the most elusive feature of the captain himself.

Kohli began his reign by dropping Pujara in the last Test match of the previous India-Australia series Down Under, signaling the team’s aggressive new strategy.

When Pujara’s next chance came, in Sri Lanka, he made a gritty century and carried the bat. That should have made the number three spot his but since his runs were not coming at a pace which can be termed aggressive, he was to be dropped again – first in the West Indies and then in England.

Just Imagine. You sacrifice the riches of the IPL to play county cricket in England, and build patience and temperament for Test match batting, then you get dropped for the exact same reason. This is heart-shattering.

But Pujara not only responded with a century in England to emerge as one of India’s better batsmen, he absolutely ground down the Australian bowlers to write his name in one of the most glorious chapters of Indian cricket history.

Kohli had gone ahead in the media to label India’s victory in Australia as more satisfying than the World Cup 2011 and Pujara was his most potent weapon – and yet his role was questioned when India’s batting meekly capitulated in New Zealand.

While Kohli praised Pujara’s ability to bat long in Australia, he openly questioned his approach after the first Test in New Zealand. Instead of asking his batting counterparts to spend some time at the crease, he criticised the cautious approach.

The young Indian batsmen got the message that they need to be more attacking while completely ignoring the importance of biding time, remaining patient and staying at the crease.

Virat Kohli (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Kohli is one of the most aggressive personalities in world cricket, which has served him well as he dominated the decade. But he needs to understand that the other two pillars of Indian Test batting, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, have their own way of going about things.

All three are match-winners in their own regards and should not be made to follow a philosophy that is not their own.

Indian cricket has completed one full cycle of SENA countries under Kohli, losing three series and winning in Australia. Kohli has done a great job of developing a potent pace attack, but his approach with the batting unit has left a lot to desire.

The batting line-up is still young and has many more years of playing together. As Pujara has shown, the intent to stay at the crease is more important than aggression. He showed it in Sri Lanka and in England. He absolutely nailed it in Australia.

Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri want India to become a potent touring side. Developing fast bowlers who could take 20 wickets in any condition was the target and they have achieved that. Now Kohli needs to develop a batting unit capable of scoring 350 runs in any conditions.

Kohli has previously noted that Pujara lays the foundations of huge first-innings totals. It should be interesting to see how Kohli arranges all the pieces in India’s upcoming tour of Australia. Intent is going to be the keyword again and will decide India’s fate as a touring team for the next five years.

Pujara will remain a key factor and how Kohli uses his ‘white walker’ will define the legacy of this generation of Indian cricket.