'He's batting at his best, no reason why he can't come back': Cheteshwar Pujara's father reacts to Test snub

Hours after being dropped, Pujara hit the nets, preparing to play Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru, the venue of his Test debut

Hours after losing his place in the Indian Test team for the West Indies tour, Cheteshwar Pujara did what he does best. He took a fresh guard, hitting the nets at his father Arvind’s academy on the outskirts of Rajkot.

India's Cheteshwar Pujara (AFP)

Comebacks are hard, especially when you are 35. But in their mind, the Pujaras believe there is more top-flight cricket left in the tank. Not sulking after being dropped from the squad named on Friday, the 103-Test veteran made himself available and has been picked in the West Zone squad for Duleep Trophy, which will kick-start the new domestic season.

It isn’t an unfamiliar situation for Pujara, who has shown steely resolve in the past to make comebacks.

“He is mentally very strong,” says his father, a former Saurashtra cricketer, who has guided his son through his career. “I can’t comment about selection. But from what I have seen, he is batting at his best. Even after the West Indies team was announced, he did not change his practice routine. He was soon batting at the nets.”

And it is unlikely Pujara would have played a shot in anger in the session. His unwavering spirit has stood out even in the fiercest of Test battles. Indian selectors though have decided to look for young blood.

Pujara’s numbers have dipped post-Covid. Before 2020, his average was within touching distance of 50 in 75 Tests. In the last 28 Tests though he’s averaged 29.69. Virat Kohli’s average in the period, across 25 Tests, is identical. Ajinkya Rahane’s average across 20 Tests is only 26.50.

The World Test Championship (WTC) has changed the rules of the game. Even at home, pitches constantly challenge the batter’s technique (against spin). Counter-attacking batters like Rishabh Pant found a way to score, but with the collective middle-order failure suggested something had to give.

The word from the selection room is that change was inevitable and facing West Indies, a relatively weaker opponent, at the start of the new World Test Championship cycle was the right time to groom younger batters.

Sunil Gavaskar vehemently disagrees. “Why has he (Pujara) been made the scapegoat for our batting failures. He has been a loyal and quiet servant. But because he does not have millions of followers on platforms who will make a noise in case he gets dropped you drop him. What is the criterion for dropping him and keeping the others who failed?” he told India Today.

This is the second time in the last 18 months that Pujara has lost his place. Unlike Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma, who were told by head coach Rahul Dravid that India wanted to look towards the future, the message to Pujara from Dravid and the selectors has been mixed. “For this series, the selectors were looking at more options. If Pujara continues to score runs in domestic cricket, like with Rahane, that’s what he will be judged by,” said a BCCI official.

The 21-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal of Mumbai will be keen to cash in his opportunity in the two-Test series.

Arvind Pujara says Cheteshwar won’t stop trying. “As a father and coach, I have no reason to believe he cannot come back. After the Duleep Trophy, he will also play in the remainder of the county season,” he said.