Cheteshwar Pujara bids adieu to international cricket, rather all forms of it, on Sunday (Aug 24) and this game and its countless fans shall be indebted to him for his contribution to it.
He was one of a kind, perhaps the last of his kind, and Team India was blessed to have him as its batting mainstay, mainly in Tests, for 14 years. Cricket, like life, has always had someone to replace someone – like it did in Sachin Tendulkar’s case, it brought in Virat Kohli, and this modern-day great did do justice to it. However, finding Pujara’s replacement, let alone for Indian cricket, could take a long time, perhaps never!
Pujara was a proper Test cricketer, something that, with the passing time, has now become a rarity in international cricket. But no one is to be blamed. It’s the game’s evolution that led to the demise of a certain breed while unearthing another. Although it’s hard to find proper Test match batters nowadays, precisely the number threes in the game, something that quietly vanished from cricket’s face, to be able to get another one like him would be this game’s win, big time.
Pujara was never in a hurry, never. He looked composed, a man always in form, always concentrating, and always looking to score runs. His best trait, however, was to tire out oppositions to an extent that they wished he had not played cricket at all.
You don’t believe it? Ask Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, who thanked God for Pujara’s absence during India’s last tour Down Under.
Stubborn, solid and sassy
Pujara was old school in a lot of ways; used to bat like a Test cricketer, walk like one, speak like one, all in all, was like one. There were no ifs and buts about it, and each captain was as happy to have him in the line-up as anyone. Although some did complain about him being slow, probably killing the momentum, or not being able to play as per the situation, everyone forgot, in that moment, that he was always like this – stubborn, solid and sassy at the crease.
Test cricket enthusiasts loved him, so did the writers, the journalists, the age-old broadcasters, and above all, this game. Sometimes even the bowlers, the fielders, the umpires, the fans – everyone!
He could bat for hours and hours together, or days, or even on all days of a Test, as record books suggest, but then so could everyone; however, not everyone could take blows as he did.
On his last tour Down Under, in the fourth Test at the Gabba, which India famously won and broke Australia’s long-standing streak, Pujara took blows as if he was supposed to. His bruised body was a testament to his will and determination to do it for his team, and not surprisingly, he did, helping his team win the match and clinch a historic series win.
Dream over money
Pujara never complained. Sure, he must have had desires to fill his pockets with T20 cricket money, like everyone did and still does to date, but he knew his game, his strengths and backed them, and he succeeded.
He was sweet yet dangerous and like none the game has seen.
Thank you, Pujara, cricket loves you, cricketers love you, and so do we!