Considered a ‘Test specialist’, a euphemism for a limited-overs misfit, Pujara failed to land an Indian Premier League contract and will be twiddling his thumbs when the star-studded Twenty20 tournament kicks off next month.
The 29-year-old is not in the 50-over mix either, having played the last of his five one-day internationals nearly three years ago, so will only be an interested observer in India’s Champions Trophy campaign in England and Wales in June. But as India’s marathon 13-Test home season draws to a close after the fourth and deciding match against Australia in Dharamsala later this week, captain Virat Kohli gave a ringing endorsement of Pujara’s worth in the longest format. “Sometimes I feel really bad for him that people don’t understand his importance in this team so much,” Kohli said after the drawn third Test at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium on Monday.
“He is the most composed player we have in the team, he is willing to grind for his runs, he doesn’t mind batting under pressure, he likes to take a challenge of batting… So someone like that is priceless to have in the team.”
At number three, Pujara lends much-needed stability to an Indian lineup replete with stroke-makers and he played his role to perfection to anchor India’s batting in Ranchi. Pujara batted more than 11 hours, forging a 199-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha in the process, to put India into a position where they could target a win that was only denied them by an equally obstinate Australian unit.
With his watertight defence and an extraordinary ability to play long innings, Pujara wore down the visiting bowlers to register his third double century in Test cricket.
“When the pressure situation comes up, he is someone who will put his hand up and play long for the team and hold up one end, which I think is a great quality in him. This season, he has been outstanding, I don’t know the number of runs he has scored but he has contributed throughout (the season). He has not been spoken about much or been in the focus too much, but he deserves much more than that.
“People need to stand up and take notice of what he has done this season, he has been outstanding with the bat and hopefully he will continue that in the last Test,” he added.
As he brought up his third Test double-century, Pujara went past his captain’s tally, quietly and almost unheralded. Already the maker of the most runs in an Indian first-class season, Pujara’s Test tally since the series against New Zealand stands at 1257 runs, at an average of 66.26 which is slightly better than even Kohli’s.
In those 12 Tests, Kohli has struck three doubles and a century, and has two other scores of fifty. Pujara has three centuries to go with his 202 in the third Test in Ranchi, and seven other scores between 50 and 99
The home season also saw the coming of age of Saha, who has firmly established himself as India’s first choice wicketkeeper. The 32-year-old Bengal player lacks the muscle and charisma of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who he replaced behind stumps in tests, but he more than makes up for those deficiencies with his stomach for a fight.
Saha brought up his third Test century in Ranchi, an innings of tremendous grit and character, to go with a sound performance behind the stumps in a keenly contested series that heads to the foot of the Himalayas tied at 1-1.
“Saha’s knock again was brilliant for us. He’s always stood up when the team needs him and this game was no different,” Kohli said. “His partnership with Pujara was the reason we had a go at winning this Test. A lot of credit goes to him also. Again, (he’s) not been mentioned too much but he deserves a lot of credit. He’s one guy who is always willing to do anything for the team. Wherever we ask him to bat, he bats. He has no problems in batting after (R) Ashwin, before Ashwin, whenever we want him to do it.
“He plays any kind of role – positive, defensive, you know, whatever we ask him to do, he never says no. So you really feel glad for a guy like that, he’s willing to do anything for the team and put his best foot forward. As I said, I’m really happy he performed in a big pressure match, in a difficult situation and put us in a position to have a shot at winning the game.”