The solitary pursuit of Cheteshwar Pujara | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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The solitary pursuit of Cheteshwar Pujara

Jun 05, 2023 11:56 PM IST

India's lone single-format batter can withdraw into the solitary pursuit of doing the thing he absolutely loves best: batting.

It has been a wait for Cheteshwar Pujara. Not that he minds it. But since the start of 2022, the 35-year-old has played nine Tests; just nine Tests — two in January 2022, one in July 2022, two in December 2022, two in February 2023, two in March 2023 and we are in June 2023 for his 10th — the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval in London.

Pujara's unique approach to batting requires a religious zeal of sticking to routines; of training the mind to be at peace when others are playing the shots.(AP)
Pujara's unique approach to batting requires a religious zeal of sticking to routines; of training the mind to be at peace when others are playing the shots.(AP)

These breaks of play, if one can call them all, are difficult because they ask the batters to find a different reserve of focus — one that keeps them in the moment; one that asks them to keep working on their game for months on end; one in which he will look forward to every match more than almost every member in the Indian team. This is the fate that a one-format player has been blessed with in the modern age.

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Blessed, why? Because when most all-format players have no time to rest given that they have to worry between switching formats, leagues and all the travel in between, Pujara can withdraw into his world; into the solitary pursuit of doing the thing that he absolutely loves best: batting.

And it doesn't matter whether he is doing this at home, in the nets at Rajkot or the nets at The Oval ahead of the World Test Championship final. He immerses himself in the moment; in batting. The four nets set up at The Oval had some players attempting to hit a few shots, others trying to figure out where their off-stump is but Pujara batted to his own rhythm. The conditions that were now considered alien feel very much like home.

His unique approach, and one can call it that because almost no one else bats like him, to batting requires a religious zeal of sticking to routines; of training the mind to be at peace even when others around him are playing the shots.

Most of it has become second nature.

“Over the years I have learnt that whenever I score, I score big,” Pujara told HT just ahead of his 100th Test in February. “Whenever you score a hundred or 150, you have to concentrate for a longer period of time. That’s when I started realising, to play a longer innings you need a lot of fitness and a good temperament to be successful in the longer format. After that I have been paying lot of attention to my routine, my daily life... in cricket there are many things which are important. To improve concentration, you also need to pay attention to what you do off the field.”

India coach Rahul Dravid recognises the effort Pujara is putting in despite being a one-format player.

“It is not easy (being a one-format player) and that is something I experienced towards the last part of my career as well,” said Dravid on Monday. “Because sometimes the matches that you play are few and far between. But the good thing about Pujara is how he finds a way to play cricket. One of the things that stood out for me is how he finds a way to play Ranji Trophy cricket, whenever he can… even during our season.”

Dravid added: “He has taken the challenge of coming to County cricket, taken on a leadership role at Sussex as well… so, he recognises the fact that he needs to keep playing cricket, otherwise the gaps in-between can be huge. So, regardless of whether he was in the IPL, he has played a lot of cricket.”

Indeed, there are distractions aplenty. But Pujara’s single-minded passion for the game inspires awe. When he was dropped from the Indian team after the South Africa tour in 2022, he just went back to the drawing board and did some more batting.

He turned the setback into an opportunity and after four 100-plus scores, including two double hundreds, in five County Championship Division Two matches for Sussex, he was back in the Indian team. In Pujara’s own words, he wasn’t thinking about a comeback after being dropped, rather he just wanted to bat well.

Pujara has scored more runs against Australia than any other team, he has batted more balls against them than any other team and, courtesy his current stint with Sussex, he is India’s best acclimatised batter.

“We certainly have had conversations with Puji,” said Dravid. “Not just about his batting but also because he has been leading Sussex, he has a good handle on tactics that are being used by the players. What kind of length the bowlers need to bowl on or how the conditions have been. We will incorporate some of that.”

The right-hander has scored three centuries this County season already (that is three centuries in six matches) and if anything, few in the Indian team will be as much in tune with Test cricket as him. While others scramble to control their bat speed and their attacking instinct, both honed by the recently-concluded IPL, Pujara can do just what he usually does.

But at the end of that day, Dravid still believes that the Indian team will need to do the simple things well: “Pujara’s inputs don’t drastically change what one needs to do. You still need to hit the top of off-stump irrespective of what the conditions are. If you do the simple things really well over the course of five days, we will have a good Test match.”

It is a simple reality Pujara recognises better than most. The others have many formats, many opportunities to shine but the 35-year-old has just one format that he can truly call his own. The World Test Championship is the only crown he can legitimately win. And it might not be wrong to say that he has already put in the hard work, only the winning bit remains.

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