CHENNAI: If the first indication of the Indian summer Down Under came as front pages of newspapers decorated by Virat Kohli with Hindi headlines earlier this week, the second one hasn’t taken long. India are training at the WACA Stadium, with the viewing points and fences, reportedly, covered with black shade. They do not want the Australian media, or anyone else for that matter, to get a glimpse of the training methods and plans and with good reason.
This is nothing new. India have a few days of closed door training in Chennai before their home season began as well. However, even as Gautam Gambhir and the senior players get ready for the biggest challenge they have in front of them, the Australian dressing room will breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they do not have to go up against one player — Cheteshwar Pujara.
For the better part of the last decade, the biggest thorn in their flesh, the most tiresome opponent they have faced is not Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma or Joe Root. It is this quite unassuming old fashioned Test batter in Pujara. Ask the likes of Josh Hazlewood who on multiple occasions has expressed the feeling of running in and bowling to Pujara in white. In fact, the upcoming one will be the first time Hazlewood is playing India in a Test series where he will not have to bowl to Pujara. To understand the significance of it, all one has to do is look at numbers.
Apart from Alastair Cook (3369), no other top-order batter has faced more balls than Pujara (2579) in Tests Down Under in the 21st century. The names that follow are Rahul Dravid, Virendra Sehwag and Hashim Amla. Pujara, on average, faced 135 balls per innings in Australia. And that is not just more than Cook, but the best for any Indian top-order batter in history. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar comes close (120 balls/innings).
Pujara was there when the chips fell around Kohli in 2014-15. He stood tall and even out-batted the Indian captain four years on when they won a series in Australia for the first time in history. And come 2020-21, he outdid himself, by taking bodily blows and holding one end for everyone else to bat around.
Yes, the Kohlis and Rahuls and Shubman Gills and Rishabh Pants of Indian cricket did their part but without Pujara at the other end, no one could have contributed as much as they did in helping India win successive Test series in Australia. His last Test innings in Australia — where he batted for 211 balls to score 56 in the historic Gabba win — was the glue that held together Gill and Pant on either side of it.
Now, this is not to say Pujara should have been there with the Indian team or he is still the same batter he was four years ago. As is the case with any player, the sport and team don’t wait. And Indian cricket has moved on from the veteran batter. His last Test innings for India was also against Australia in the 2023 World Test Championship final. In the time since then, Gill, who threw the first punch on the final day in Gabba along with Pujara, has moved down to No 3 and made the spot his own. He has an explosive opener in Yashasvi Jaiswal above and Kohli, Pant below.
The biggest question this dynamic batting line-up faces is who is going to do what Pujara did in Australia. Granted, their approach is such that they have been batting at a much higher strike rate than they used to, but it comes with a cost. When it comes off it looks spectacular like it did in Kanpur but when it doesn’t it will be as bad as the 46 all out in Bengaluru. And that is just in India. In a country like Australia, India will need someone to bat time, and sessions without worrying about taking on the bowlers. They need someone to put their foot down and just bat one delivery after another. Who is going to be that guy for India remains the biggest question.
Rohit did not want to add any extra pressure on youngsters, and wanted them to have the freedom to play their game.
“There's too much expectation from our team but we want to try and keep things very simple and focus on what needs to be done on that particular day because Test matches are won over five days. You have to try and win every single day of Test matches to win a Test match. We’re pretty much focused on that. And then let them just play freely because the more you talk, the more complicated it gets,” he had said after the loss to New Zealand in Mumbai.
It is, however, easier said than done. That said, every time India went to Australia in the last 15 years, they came back with a star for the future. From Kohli to Pujara to Pant to Gill, they have all risen to the occasion on their first trip Down Under. This time, without Pujara, it is not going to be easy. And India will need someone to put his hand up and say ‘I’m going to be that guy who will do a Pujara in this series’.