Anchoring or accelerating, Pujara was a great fit at No. 3

Had Cheteshwar Pujara been within the crew, it’s attainable India may need gained the latest sequence in England.

Once skipper Shubman Gill determined he was batting at No. 4, there was want for expertise and resilience one slot above. India lacked a No. 3 able to the lengthy innings, somebody who allowed their many stroke gamers to bat round him displaying neither ego nor envy. It may need been an imaginative choice. Admittedly, Pujara was 37, and his batting had been on the decline, regardless of two centuries and a median of 62 for Sussex.

At any fee, it’s simple to be clever after the occasion, and Pujara had already taken the well-trodden route from pitch to commentary field. But it’s an intriguing might-have-been. Sometimes selecting a 16-year-old is seen as an impressed choice; there aren’t too many at the opposite finish of the dimensions.

The late Bobby Simpson, recalled at 41, led Australia to a sequence win in opposition to India. Cyril Washbrook, then 41 and an England selector, was picked in opposition to Australia and scored 98 commenting drily, “another two would have done no harm.” England gained.

Traditional function

Pujara and his predecessor Rahul Dravid bolstered the normal function of the No. 3, the one batting slot largely unaffected by the calls for of T20 cricket. In the line-up, that place is the one related to effectivity somewhat than fashion, pragmatism somewhat than romance.

In Pictures | Cheteshwar Pujara, one of many foremost Test specialists in twenty first century, retires

Former Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara introduced his retirement from all types of cricket on August 24, 2025. Pujara is most remembered for India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia in 2018 and 2020. He troubled Australia together with his strong defence and approach.

In the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy sequence, he scored 271 runs from 4 matches at a median of 33.87, with three fifties and a finest rating of 77. In the ultimate Test at The Gabba, he endured a number of physique blows from Australian pacers on his physique, making the win much more memorable.

Pujara was all about classical batsmanship marinated in Test whites. Pujara has performed 103 Tests scoring 7,195 runs with 206 not out being his highest rating. He has scored 19 centuries together with 35 half-centuries.

Solidity at the crease and a sense of dignity remained Cheteshwar Pujara’s particular attributes.

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In top quality cricket, he has performed 278 matches scoring 21,301 runs with 352 being his highest. His common in first-class cricket is 51.82. He has scored 66 centuries and 81 half-centuries.

The crowd’s raucous affection was reserved for Tendulkar and Kohli, whereas for Dravid and his successor Pujara, there was muted respect. Incidentally Pujara made his Test debut in Dravid’s hometown Bengaluru in 2010, and that too in opposition to Australia, an opponent he usually defied via his storied profession.

Cheteshwar Pujara additionally has performed 71 T20 matches scoring 1,556 runs with 100 being his finest.

In an age of glitz, mighty sixes and hyperbole, Cheteshwar Pujara was an exception. The old style batter was desirous to grind out assaults, took blows on his physique, and sometimes laid the inspiration for his extra effervescent team-mates like Virat Kohli to prosper.

Cheteshwar Pujara rings the five-minute bell earlier than the beginning of the third day of the third Test match between India and England, at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, in London on July 12, 2025. sequence. Anil Kumble, who coached India throughout a part of Pujara’s profession, hailed him as a true ambassador of the sport. “Congratulations on a fantastic career! You have been a great ambassador of this wonderful game,” he mentioned.

1/3

Walter Hammond, he of the silken cowl drive, and infrequently the likes of Joe Root and Viv Richards have batted at three however Kumar Sangakkara, powerful as nails, made probably the most runs from that place. He was the best trendy No. 3 — left-handed, able to each the lengthy, defensive innings (he had 11 double centuries together with a triple) and the brief attacking one, and a excellent reader of the sport state of affairs.

Like for like: File image of Pujara with Rahul Dravid in Chennai
| Photo Credit:
Okay. Pichumani

Garry Sobers made the then world report rating of 365 at No. 3, as did Brian Lara who broke that report. It was the house of males like Don Bradman (who averaged over 100 there), and Ricky Ponting, whose wickets had been most priced by the opposition, and who had the vary and talent to knuckle down in defence or construct on a good opening stand so those that adopted discovered life simpler.

Psychologically essential

Possibly as a result of the No. 3 tended to be the one controlling the innings, lots of them have led their nations. Some have even opened the innings in emergencies — the idea (mistaken) being that in case you are adequate to come back in at the autumn of the primary wicket within the first over, then you’re adequate to open. This ignores the truth that No. 3 is just not merely a bodily place, an arithmetical necessity, however a psychologically essential one calling for a set of distinctive attributes together with the flexibility to anchor or speed up because the state of affairs calls for.

Both Dravid and Pujara have opened, the previous including 410 with Virender Sehwag in opposition to Pakistan, and the latter carrying his bat in opposition to Sri Lanka, remaining unbeaten on 145 at the top of the innings.

Perhaps I exaggerated earlier about having Pujara in England. What we would have liked was somebody Pujara-like, prepared to take the physique blows, frustrate bowlers and viewers alike. That final is merely a public notion, and like many such, is inaccurate.

Pujara had a higher strike fee than David Boon and Neil Harvey of Australia, England’s Dennis Compton and across the similar as Desmond Haynes of the West Indies, and New Zealand’s Martin Crowe, all famend for his or her stroke play and fast scoring. Pujara’s first duty was to set the home so as earlier than stepping out for fancy furnishings and ornamental lamps because it had been.

Pujara belonged to one of many two strains of Indian batsmanship. There is the wristy magician, exemplified by Gundappa Vishwanath, Mohammed Azharuddin and V.V.S. Laxman, and the stout-hearted defensive rock within the line of Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid. He lacked the grace of the previous and the technical finesse of the latter, however his coronary heart was as large as that of anyone who performed for India.

During his 103-Test profession, he was the plain reply to the query usually requested: Whom would you prefer to bat in your life?

Published – August 27, 2025 12:30 am IST