Heads Cheteshwar Pujara doesn’t win; tails he loses

Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the playing XI during the 2014-15 Australia tour after a prolonged slump. (Source: Reuters)

On Wednesday morning at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) practice nets, Cheteshwar Pujara was a mess. When Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowling a terrific line and length and jagging the ball away, wasn’t beating him ball after ball, he was hitting his stumps with those that snaked back in. Then there was Varun Aaron rushing him up. Worst of all, the two local left-armers with little pedigree but bowling at good pace were giving the Saurashtra right-hander a torrid time, too, with Pujara unable to deal with their angle.

As has been the practice for the Indian team since the second Test, the batsmen were going through their drills in pairs, and Pujara had newcomer Karun Nair for company. In two days’ time he would be making his return to the Indian Test XI, for the first time since the Boxing Day encounter at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last December, that too as a stand-in opener. But looking at the support staff, all in attendance, it was obvious that this wasn’t the kind of rehearsal they were expecting from their reserve, and generally solid, batsman. Pujara then walked away from the nets and approached his meticulously arranged kit-bag and decided that it was time for a change of gloves. Maybe also time for a change of luck.

Pujara is somewhat of a stickler for attention during practice sessions. He’s always the first to enter the practice area, his kit-bag always neatly tucked over his shoulder. And when it’s time to pad up, he goes through with it in methodical fashion — most do, but Pujara’s seems to follow a much more regimented pattern — starting from the fit of the thigh-pad over which he’s had multiple discussions with Murali Vijay during the tour. The orderliness extends to his batting as well, on most occasions anyway.

But at the SSC, Pujara wasn’t in his elements. He wasn’t in his stride. The change of gloves did help briefly, as he began middling the ball more. He also managed to punch a few Kumar deliveries through the virtual mid-off region evoking a ‘That’s it’ from batting coach Sanjay Bangar. That Pujara would be out of confidence is understandable. That his hands would be tense and his feet edgy is to be expected. For eight months, Pujara has sat on the sidelines, wondering how he could let slip a Test spot that was his for the taking.

An unexpected opportunity

And here he was, with an unexpected opportunity having come his way, but in a position not of his choice and one that would certainly pull him out of his comfort-zone.

For, whatever happens over the next week at the SSC, and how many ever runs Pujara scores at the top of the order, the most he will achieve is cement his place as the first-choice standby batsman. A tag that he already seemed to have achieved before India landed in Sri Lanka — according to team director Ravi Shastri. That means whenever there’s an injury or a batsman out of form, Pujara would fill in, like he has now. That also means, with Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay all having scored runs aplenty of late, Pujara’s runs will have no bearing on the opening slot. But a failure will certainly have a dire effect, for it will only add to his hesitant state of mind, and his standing even if, technically, it will be a middle-order batsman failing as an opener.

Pujara will find himself in a ‘something to gain but lots to lose’ position at the SSC. In other words, it’s basically float and get acknowledged for not sinking, or sink and slip further into the mire.

Though out of the reckoning, he hasn’t been quite out of touch. Runs have come his way, but not in the glut that has been a recurring theme of his career.

Earlier this year, with the IPL franchises having turned their backs on him, he flew to England for a stint with champion county team, Yorkshire, for whom he averaged 52.80 in four matches and even scored an unbeaten 133 against Hampshire in a Division 1 encounter. And just prior to the Sri Lanka tour, he also captained India A against the touring Australian A team in Chennai.

With Murali Vijay having already suffered a hamstring strain by then, Pujara stepped up to open the innings in the second of those two matches. He got to only 11 in both innings, though he did spend close to 50 minutes at the crease in both innings.

Pujara had batted at his preferred No.3 position in the first match and got scores of 55 and 42. But over the last three weeks he’s seen that No.3 being swapped around between Rohit Sharma, who failed to nail it down at Galle, and Ajinkya Rahane, who made the most of his promotion and scored a match-winning century at the P Sara Oval. That has left Pujara’s spot, if and when he does get a chance to make his presence felt in the middle-order, in a state of flux, and making his outing at the SSC even more crucial.

The centre-wicket, which will host the third and final Test, did carry an uncharacteristic green tinge to it two days out, but on closer inspection, you find it to be traditionally firm and potentially in favour of the batsmen. And Pujara couldn’t have asked for a more suitable ground to make a comeback.

And the best he can do, is to put his best foot forward, and make an impression in an examination that asks of him to not only pass but do so with flying colours, regardless of the outcome it will have on his career.