Cheteshwar Pujara averages 99.79 in Test cricket.
That’s 99.79 balls per innings.
It’s a stat most would scoff at and say it’s irrelevant but try telling that to Australia’s bowlers after the series we’ve just witnessed.
Only one batsman – Marnus Labuschagne – has faced more balls in Australia than Pujara in the last three years.
He’s now blunted our bowlers for 2657 deliveries in three tours down under. It’s had the desired result of emptying the tank of the Aussies just like the original wall, Rahul David, used to do.
Some commentators yesterday suggested Pujara’s slow scoring rate was putting added pressure on his batting partners.
They were of course proven wrong.
Pujara ducked, weaved, and weathered the storm. He propelled blow after blow to his head and body but was able to immediately focus and get in behind the next delivery like nothing had happened.
Tradies and businessmen who snuck off work to make the most of the free tickets at the Gabba cried for the Indian to “get on with it”.
Josh Hazlewood stares down Pujara after hitting him in the head
His determination eased the nerves in the dressing room and allowed more scoring opportunities down the other end as the bowlers tried desperately to get wickets on the fifth day.
For every ball Pujara survived, India’s chances of losing the match diminished and the fast bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins suffered the psychological blow of not being able to find a way through India’s wall.
It wasn’t as if he was focused purely on survival.
In between all the dot balls, he took care of the rank deliveries and was no doubt a calming influence for young gun Shubman Gill, who scored a crucial 91.
When Pujara was finally dismissed, for 56 off 211 balls in the 81st over, the score was 4-228.
He had batted for a tick over five hours and ensured India would, at worst, draw the game.
His innings created the opportunity for Rishabh Pant to go on and push for the win – attacking Australia’s weary bowlers who were both physically and mentally drained.
It was once again a brilliant tactical performance from an Indian side which was missing so many of their stars.
In the modern era, when Twenty20 cricket is taking precedence on the cricket calendar, a Test specialist like Pujara is rare.
What the SCG and Gabba Tests show is that a slow, old-school batsman can still work in the modern game.
Pujara was the glue that held the innings together.
In 50 years’ time, people will look back on his series batting average of 33.87 and wonder what all the fuss was about.
Runs are of course what matters. India scored 329 of them to win the most remarkable Test. It was the variety of attack and defence which allowed the impossible to be achieved.
Batting time is an art and we’re very lucky to have a master in Pujara to show that this skill is just as important in the 21st century as it was in the 19th.
Long live Test cricket.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Great article! :thumbup:
Nigel Dias
Guest
Agreed, his mental application and powers of concentration are brilliant, without him India were really no chance on the last day, he held the innings together
WillowWiz
Roar Rookie
I know right!
Hari
Roar Rookie
Was fun to see how Hazelwood was looking at the wicket in the evening!
JimmyWP
Roar Rookie
Thanks Ben for this analysis. It’s interesting to see the idea of balls faced being valued. In recent series the batters that have scored heavily have often been those scoring between 30 to 40 runs per hundred balls, rather than at faster strike rates. This trait becomes more important the better the opposition. Easy to score at a good clip against poor attacks, harder to do so against good attacks. Interestingly the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis, about baseball’s evolution towards statistical analysis, delves into this idea (something the movie skips over). In short one of the parameters the Oakland A’s valued highly in rating players was pitches faced. The more pitches faced the better as this tired out pitchers and forced opposing teams to bring on weaker pitchers earlier in games or series. Pujara’s batting managed something similar albeit in a cricketing context. At the end of the day what a wonderful test series, down to the last few overs on the fifth day of the fourth test of a series. BBL does feel a little less dramatic now. Well played Pujura and India.
WillowWiz
Roar Rookie
BillyB
Guest
No, I disagree There are many good bats where if given the licence to do that, with the surety of someone like Pujara at the other end, then they could do it. Smith almost certainly could, but he's surrounded by numpties who have the attention span of children and throw their wicket away with abandon. A textbook case is David Warner and Matt Renshaw. Warner hit 100 in the opening session precisely because he had the rock solid Renshaw occupying an end allowing Warner to swing freely knowing that if he got out, Renshaw is still there.
James
Guest
And even fewer could have pulled off what Pujara did. There are way more skilled run a ball batsmen now than reliable be there all day batsmen. They need each other equally.
Basil Baborgnay
Roar Rookie
I don't think it is very helpful to call those with whom you have a different opinion arrogant. While in the end Pujara was vindicated by the brilliant batting of Pant, it is not a crime to express an opinion that he could have batted with a little more urgency. Who knows what could have happened, there might have been a downpour just before the end of play and India could have been stranded a few runs short of victory. Then people might say different things about it, especially the fans back in India, lol !
Tanmoy K.
Guest
Very good Article Benjamin, you have described properly the value of a batsman like Pujara, what type of job he used to do in an Indian batting line up consists of flamboyant batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan. L. Rahul and Rishabh Pant. I think every team needs a Pujara in their lineup to be successful in Test cricket.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
yep. too many have been sucked in by T²⁰!
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Nothing against Pujara, of course he provided the backbone. Just saying that few batsmen could have pulled off what Gill and Pant did.
BillyB
Guest
Yeah, no one wants to see that. Which team won the test? Which team won the series? How many Australian players did Pujara outscore? Watch 20/20 if you have a problem. It suits your feeble brain.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Nice article Ben. I think balls faced per dismissal is a really under rated stat, especially in this era where batting lineups are flakier than ever, and prone to collapses. Soaking up pressure, by batting time, is very valuable. That's one reason I think Green's debut series was so encouraging - he soaked up 83 balls per dismissal, which was the 2nd highest of any Aussie, after only Labuschagne. Green's defence is very solid, and his ability to withstand periods of pressure is tremendous for such an inexperienced cricketer.
Benjamin Conkey
Editor
No one wants to see it if a whole team is doing it like what happened to Test cricket in the 1950s. This is different though. This is one batsman playing a style of attritional cricket that his teammates can bat around. It’s helped India win two series in Australia now.
WillowWiz
Roar Rookie
Tell that to the Indians who just won the most remarkable Test-series in decades using that very style of batsmanship to utterly wear down the Aussies :laughing:
Julian
Guest
Could not have said it better myself - thank you for such a well constructed, thought-out comment. Pujara's innings was something to behold. People who think it's easy to walk out there and defend against the best and most feared bowling attack in the world for 5 hours straight, clearly have no concept of the game. Pujara played the role his team needed him to play, and in doing so made himself a target for some of the most aggressive bowling you'll see on a cricket pitch. He used his body as a battering ram to wear down the likes of Cummings, Hazlewood and Stark, which provided the platform & confidence for India's aggressive batsman to work their magic. Without his solidity and discipline India would've struggled to draw this test, let alone win it. This isn't 20-20, this is long-form, Test Cricket - and Pujara just reminded Australia how it's played. An absolute clinic from a class individual.
arthurmcintosh
Guest
Yes Pujara the real hero..... of that there is no doubt.
Nathan Tee
Roar Rookie
No one wants to see that! Defensive Balls to the Wall crap is boring & actually quite sad! The idea is to try to score runs, not block everything for a couple of hours! No one wants to see that!
WillowWiz
Roar Rookie
India were strategically leagues ahead of Australia this series. They were actually going quite well in Adelaide too until the rather inexplicable 9 for 36 carnage on day three. Remember the 'leg theory' tactics that Ashwin used to such devastating effect against Smith and Labuschagne in the Boxing Day Test?