CHENNAI: Being an India cricketer and sitting at home with the IPL playing out loud in drawing rooms across country can be tough, but he has got used to it. Cheteshwar Pujara is doing what he does at the crease — spending quality time quietly — with family in Rajkot. Missing the parade may be a blessing in disguise if one can stop thinking of money, for it offers a chance to do stuff prime-time exposure doesn’t permit.
Points proven and place in XI looking good for the moment after closing the home season with 1,314 runs at 62.66 with four tons, India’s Test No 3 has made a trip to the Great Rann of Kutch, and is trying to secure a contract in the English County Championship. Otherwise, he’s at home with wife Puja and father Arvind, when not training at his academy in the outskirts of Rajkot.
One can also sense hunger in the voice of India’s highest run-getter in these 13 Tests when he says, “too many fifties”. He’s happy, with a regret. “It’s fantastic to have contributed to the team’s success, but I thought I gave away my wicket too many times. There were starts that I couldn’t convert. I’ve to improve in this area. I’m known to get big hundreds and have got them since my junior days.” Those who have followed Pujara’s journey will know what he’s saying. A batsman who has converted six of his 11 hundreds into 140-plus, can find eight scores between 50-99 unsatisfactory.
He crossed 70 four times in those innings, including a dismissal on 92, the only one in the 90s in his 81 Test innings. Given that the next chance will come abroad, he’s getting mentally ready to better his overseas average of 33.36 in 18 Tests. He got starts in those conditions and it’s to be seen if the new-found confidence helps in this regard.
The IPL has to come up during conversation and the player who hasn’t been in demand after 2014 says he doesn’t watch. He did go to the Rajkot stadium on an invitation when Gujarat Lions played their first home game this season, but evenings have been for close ones since. “It’s either practice or fitness training almost the entire day and it can’t be cricket 24 hours. The switch-off happens in the evenings, when I’m with family or friends. That’s why I don’t watch IPL on TV, not because I’m not part of it. I watch occasionally, mostly if someone else is watching.”
Being out of public gaze means he isn’t sought after for endorsements and being out of IPL might also add this agony of being unable to earn quick. On the other hand, there are intangible gains from doing well in a format that is still regarded as the ultimate test by peers. Apart from spending time with those he wants to, this is another plus Pujara is carrying.
“Many wanted India to win, the Australia series was tough. To have done well in those matches and gained the respect of teammates and oppositions brings about a satisfaction that can’t be matched. The feeling that comes from performing when the team needs you to can’t be compared. I don’t want to talk about how much others are earning or doing. What I’ve earned is precious to me,” he says. Away tests await. Pujara has done his homework right to approach them in the best frame of mind.
atreyo@newindianexpress.com