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Showing posts with label Cheteshwar Pujara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cheteshwar Pujara. Show all posts
CheMystery.
The pull of Pujara, the cricketer, his batsmanship was beyond explanation. The chemistry that followed even more so
On October, 9, 2010, Cheteshwar Pujara did it. He really did. Test f***ing debut. That was quite a day. Oh, how we had waited. We? Who’s we? A handful of cricket bums, who believed in Pujara before he became Test cap No. 266.
On March 30, 2009, Pujara became Che Pujara. A graphic with designs on an alternative cricketer. It’s another thing, he already was an alternative cricketer. How else does a one format batter extend his career to 100 Test matches.
This was not supposed to happen. Pujara’s Test career was on borrowed time – within less than a year of making his One-Day International debut, he played his last ODI. That was 2014. During this time, he played 5 ODIs. He did not play any T20 internationals. That he played in the IPL was often a source of amusement.
Amusement that Pujara had not intended. Amusement that his demeanour, his approach to the game, his being a down and out one-format player brought on.
During these 100 Tests, Pujara has been dropped, discarded, demeaned. Unlike the more prolific names, he was never rested. Rarely has he been injured. That is the preserve of the greats, those that have the comfort of three formats, the backing of airwaves, the smokescreen of the IPL.
Pujara stands naked to all scrutiny. It’s almost always been that. In the past, he has been raised to the heavens by a head coach, only to be flattened later.
By now, anyone who has watched Indian cricket will be aware that commentators follow a code of conduct. One that makes them steer clear of criticism of certain players. Pujara is far from certain players. He is often the butt of all jokes. His fielding. Approach to batting. Running between the wickets.
In spite of all this, Pujara propelled India to its first Test series win in Australia. And second. Yet, the joy in nitpicking. Something that Pujara lends himself to often. Probably just the way he is, that kind of character,
And what a character. What a belief. Watch Pujara in any interview, more so during a Test match, in an adverse situation, the deadpan confidence is downright ridiculous.
But then Pujara is ridiculous. He has extended his career to 100 Test matches. Across more than 12 years.
***
The attraction to this cricketer came from his batting numbers, his triple hundreds, his backstory, his state of origin, Saurashtra, the cricketing backwaters in those days. All from articles without watching him bat.
Everything that added to the conviction, that we must do something to market him. And just like that Cheteshwar Pujara morphed into Che Guevara and became Che Pujara.
That is how it began. And then only recently, I saw a man wearing a t-shirt that said ‘CheMystery – I don’t know what’s happening.’ If I didn’t back then, I do now. It’s about choosing someone, and sticking with them, through it all, for what they are, in spite of what they are. Where their flaws make them unique.
I’ve been drawn into Pujara’s career by the conviction in his batting, his methods, his approach, his ecosystem; as also that of his father’s Arvind Pujara’s. This in spite of never having met or spoken to either. We did have a brief Twitter exchange once. That’s it.
Through these 12 years, often, I can sense when he will be dismissed. When he gets going with a flick off middle through square leg, I sense he’s pumped. But then, he surprises me with the dismissal at Nagpur.
I did not expect him to make it to 100 Tests. That isn’t part of the Indian playbook.
There was a time when Pujara and Rahane were neck and neck for the axe. That the white ball distractions had dimmed in Pujara’s case, probably helped him extend his Test career.
Pujara, though he may appear to be a loner, or even a lone-ranger, has his mates within the team – none more outspoken than Ravichandran Ashwin, whose smashing tribute, gave us a peek into the stubbornest of them all.
That Pujara’s greatest batting ally in recent times, Rishabh Pant, will not be by his side, will be a miss. Pujara-Pant made the Test series’ wins Down Under a reality. They achieved what generations had not before them. This cannot be said enough. They are both once-in-a- generation Test batsmen that forged a mystical cricket bond in the middle. Every preconceived notion about Pujara was thrown out of the window through their partnerships.
Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid at the helm, their combined belief in Pujara, have made this 100th Test match a reality. It’s been a rocky road but would Pujara have had it any other way? Had it been easier, would he have been the man he is today?
Cheteshwar Pujara is a lesson in resolve. He is the action that is often dished out as rhetorical bullshit.
He is a superhero. It’s just that you never knew it. Because he was never packaged as one. Even if we packaged him as one, he had to turn up in all-whites sans a cigar.
15797 deliveries later, let’s surprise ourselves. In addition to Kohli, Rohit, SKY, let’s root for the man in the shadows. For he has also been the sun that made the shadows possible. We just chose to ignore it. For it was never blinding.
First published here on cricket.com
Rahul-Mayank can be as potent as Sehwag-Gambhir
But in the absence of seniors, they need to do more than just mark their presence
In Virat Kohli’s absence, his deputy, KL Rahul became the Test captain. Far from a certainty in the team, till only a few Tests back, what catapulted Rahul into this leadership role? Last year’s 129 against England, at Lord’s, was followed by a string of low scores. But Ajinkya Rahane’s indifferent batting form, uncertainty over his Test spot, continuous non-selection for the white-ball format, made him lose his vice-captaincy.
Meanwhile, Rahul is more a less a certainty across the white-ball format. Four 50s in his last five T20I innings (vs Afghanistan, Namibia, Scotland in the T20 World Cup) and another against New Zealand at Ahmedabad. But even before this, he was the Punjab Kings’ skipper, and possibly one of India’s T20 batting mainstays. His ODI numbers are equally impressive.
Added to Kohli’s absence, was Rohit Sharma’s absence – perhaps the only other batting certainty across formats for India.
Yet, Punjab Kings under KL Rahul were far from impressive. Whether it is the squad or team selection, Punjab has been a largely rudderless IPL entity. Yet for a while, such has been the preoccupation with Kohli and Rohit, that Rahul the batsman, and not Rahul the leader was picked, first, for vice-captaincy, then almost by default, for the captaincy at the Wanderers.
India’s senior-most Test players, Cheteshwar Pujara (94 Tests) and Ravichandran Ashwin (83 Tests) much like Rahane (81 Tests) are not all-format players. KL Rahul is, by the look of it, being slated to be one. After his exceptional match-winning innings at Centurion, Rahul’s stock rose manifold.
Rahul of 42 Tests, batting average of 36, nowhere close to a Test mainstay, with 2 of his 7 Test centuries in his last two series (both overseas), was made captain. In addition to captaincy, Rahul opens the batting. In addition to negotiating the new ball, he also has to secure his spot in the team.
It’s out of such adversity that strong leaders are born. Yet as has been obvious in Rahul’s IPL captaincy, leading a weak batting lineup has thwarted his own batsmanship making him even opine that strike rate is over-rated. If Pujara said that, it would be understandable. But when someone with a strike-rate of 142 in T20Is says that, it calls for thought. Is Rahul thinking too much? How did David Warner lead an equally weak SRH batting line up, yet not compromise on his attacking play or leadership for years? Much like Rahul, Warner was captain, opener and batting mainstay of his IPL franchise. Rahul is not yet 30, Warner is 35, and perhaps there is still time for him to come into his own. Or is there? Is he too laidback, in his own shell, to lead and inspire a team that needs that extra push?
Perhaps the greatest disservice by making Rahul captain or even the deputy is that it could dilute the impact of the Rahul-Mayank opening, one that is even more critical overseas. If Mayank Agarwal were to play a winning hand in the last Test, would the selectors have the audacity to drop its interim Test captain when Rohit Sharma returns? Unlikely.
Although Mayank has played only 18 Tests (out of which 11 are overseas), he has a batting average of 45.38 (more than Rahul, Rahane and Pujara and only less than Kohli). In Rahul’s absence, Mayank could be the next Punjab Kings’ captain. He is yet to make his T20I debut, and has played only 5 ODIs, but in India’s batting merry go round, he could easily be the next flavour. Just as Unmukt Chand was, not too long ago.
Mayank is barely a year older than Rahul, both are good friends, with a batting understanding that goes back a long way. In the cryptic ways of Indian cricket, the continuous absences of Kohli and Rohit, Rahul and Mayank can forge a batting renaissance in Indian cricket. Even be the next Sehwag-Gambhir. Just as Sehwag-Gambhir were from Delhi, Rahul-Mayank are from Bangalore. Both are mates too. Both can be equally attacking on top, while Mayank's prowess against spin is no less than Gambhir’s in his heyday. Rahul can be just as destructive as Sehwag, scoring all-round the wicket. And much like Sehwag, Rahul hasn’t shown any leadership qualities at his IPL franchise. Both have Punjab Kings in common, moving from their city franchise to it.
If and when Rohit returns, how will they accommodate Mayank? Will selection be able to sever long, accomplished batting ties – will it be prepared to move on? Also, considering Rohit’s continuous fitness problems, he may even decide to ration his Test cricket. If not retire from it altogether and focus only on white-ball cricket.
Shikhar Dhawan last played a Test match in September, 2018. He was not part of India’s T20 World Cup squad last year. But he did lead India for the twin white-ball series in Sri Lanka. Over the years, he has been one of India’s leading ODI batsmen; as also one of Delhi Capitals’ highest scorers repeatedly. The leadership role eluded him at DC, and he wasn’t retained by the franchise. Dhawan is part of the ODI series in South Africa. Mayank is not.
However, it seems inevitable, that if India are to win their first Test series in South Africa, their openers will have to lead the way. A telling contribution from Mayank, could still force his late inclusion for the ODIs.
***
Even if Kohli returns to lead in Cape Town, if he continues to remain absent with the bat, the noises will only increase. It may not be too far-flung to even see him relinquish the Test captaincy too. And therein lies the opportunity for Rahul-Mayank to stamp their presence on this fading batting order.
First published here
On a personal note to Cheteshwar Pujara
Thank you for not conforming, for being forever stubborn
Dear Che,
Is it ok if I call you Che? Let me assure you, it is out of affection. Something that goes back to before you made your Test debut. Back then, I was blown away by your lofty scores in first-class cricket. But then again, I did not think a player from Saurashtra would make it.
You did. And I took pride in your every innings of note. It was a personal triumph. Look, there’s my boy, Che Pujara, the one I told you would make it. Oddly enough, I had not watched you bat before your Test debut.
But a few of us back then believed we were your Blogging Agents. And when you made your Test debut, I was speaking to Daniel Norcross on Test Match Sofa about you. Recall it was after your first innings’ no show. I believed then and told Daniel pretty much that you will turn it around in the second innings. I still do not know where that belief came from but it was there.
Our bond though, albeit one-sided, had been forged before that day. It was fueled, perhaps, by the need to push a cricket revolution – your image had already been morphed with Che Guevara’s. It was picked by the cricketing underground. It resurfaces on days when you lead a maiden series triumph down under or such.
A confession: so consumed have I been by my own prophecy, that till date, I find you, even in your struggles, the most watchable Test batsman. When not struggling, it is another level. Because even then, you will coat such a lacquer of hardship and patience, it could well be Thomas Hardy penning your innings.
But a question I often find myself asking, more so now, as your batting average takes a hit, match after match, is this the end? And if not, surely, this is the final lap?
The line outside off lures your bat edges more often than not. Often it is that magical delivery, but when it is not, it’s here we go again. There was a phase where your preferred mode of dismissal was clean bowled.
Acceptable, all batters have their phases and fetishes. Yours, however, appeared to be put under the microscope far more. Even your herculean innings would pale if there was a series of unfortunate events. Then there were those in the com-box that would delight in your running between the wickets and fielding – chasing balls with your pads on. Face it, you can be quite comical, without any intention to be funny.
There was a time, you would be referred to as ‘Not the fastest of fielders’ with your twin knee surgeries often being added as an explanation. But because of how unusual you were and continue to be, as a sportsman and cricketer, in these new white ball dark ages – you are the odd man out.
And yet you have persevered. For over 11 years. 92 Test matches. 14827 deliveries. With even 15 sixes. (who cares, if Virat Kohli himself has hit only 25 Test sixes, that’s considered adaptability to the longest format)
On the 2nd Day of this Mumbai Test, when you deposited Ajaz Patel’s half-tracker over the boundary, they doubted, checked, double-checked. And it wasn’t even hitting the rope or shy of it, it was well over. But because it was Pujara. You could have hit the ball out of Wankhede, into the Arabian sea, they would’ve still checked.
You will walk off. With the same amount of no-fuss, as you will walk on. Deep down, are you a Kiwi? So much Zen, how?
***
It’s easy to not remember, that only recently you scored a 91 and 61 in England. That India won both these Tests. What is remembered are the 20s and naught that followed. It pains me to say, after the Kiwis reviewed their LBW appeal against you, (or was it before), I could almost smell your dismissal. The LBW was a not-out, but next ball you were clean bowled to Ajaz Patel, going down the wicket to him. When did something like that happen last?
In the second innings, you started with such fervour, boundary after boundary, as if you had been freed of all burden. You were not-out overnight, in the morning, you took to the spinners again.
Then there was that familiar painful passage – of the ball pounding you. Memories of Australia came rushing through. The Kiwis had resorted to bodyline. Gavaskar resorted to taking credit for the arm guard. You had the arm guard on.
Ball after ball at the body. After the arm, one on the back. No back-guard it seemed. You weren’t scoring much either. And then, Ajaz Patel snared you. You did open the innings. 47 runs. 6 4s and that solitary six. The one they checked and checked. Ironically, they checked and checked your dismissal too. Your 92nd Test, the third umpire was taking a leaf out of the Pujara handy book - make it last longer.
***
In the post-match, Ashwin took Virat, “Puji”, South Africa series in the same breath – Kohli raised an eyebrow, or so I thought. It could’ve been my imagination. It could’ve been Ashwin making a call.
Neither you nor Ashwin are strangers to being omitted on overseas’ tours. But yes, the mini-pounding in Mumbai, did bring to mind what the fierce pace and bounce of Nortje and Rabada could do on their home turf. Particularly to you. Good luck. But you and Tests in the Southern Hemisphere have this habit of writing stunning scripts.
***
Back in the summer of 2017, Sidharth Monga and I started speaking about you. It was an unusual correspondence – entirely on email. We went back-and-forth many times, entirely focused on you. Sidharth’s piece appeared, there were conversations with you, your father, your cricket. It was riveting. To read about Sidharth ask you about Che Pujara. To read that you were unaware of the moniker. The oblivion was wonderful. I wouldn’t have expected anything less of you.
My opinion of you is somewhat contrary to what the media and even some of your more extroverted teammates have of you. This opinion I have held as way back as 2011, when along with Sharda Ugra, I spoke of leadership, captaincy and star players on NDTV.
Then, as now, I do believe you will make an astute captain. I have followed your travails with India A in the West Indies, batting with the tail. Saurashtra too.
The vice-captaincy has been fleeting in the New Zealand series. In South Africa, in all likelihood Rohit will be Kohli’s deputy. Your most emphatic form of leadership will be with the bat. After tough days, of which there will be plenty, if you score, expect to be asked to speak to the press. Something that you revel in.
Here’s to making it to 100 Tests and 7000 runs. Prove the naysayers wrong. Prove me wrong too.
When it’s time to say goodbye, hope you leave with a whimper. Or what is often mistaken to be a whimper. Hope you outdo yourself. Hope you take 100 deliveries to get off the mark. And when you do, I hope you raise your bat to a standing ovation. Here’s to never conforming. Here’s to being forever stubborn. Here’s to you, Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara. Here’s to stretching five days. Here’s to the last Test batsman. Here’s to the vanishing art of denial.
Sincerely,
Gaurav Sethi
Batting order or anarchy?
We don’t have to get over the Virat Kohli question. Just as we couldn’t get over the Virat Kohli answer. Be it to bowlers, oppositions, interviewers, the world at large.
Both the Kohli question, as too the Kohli answer are deeply imbedded in Indian cricket, and will continue to, for years.
We can continue to ask them, but in the middle of a series they will not be answered: Kohli will continue as captain and player.
There are other solutions, but India’s win at Lord’s, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s contributions in that Test may have deferred them.
Both Pujara and Rahane are one format players for India. That comes with an added thrust of insecurity; one that hovers over the head – one that has over the years, compelled them to defy the white ball’s shrug.
This has been more marked in Rahane’s game even though Pujara continued to back himself as a white ball cricketer in the press.
For years, Pujara remained unsold in the IPL auctions. Then when CSK did come around, it met with an applause. As if CSK had indulged in some form of red ball charity. Pujara however, remained on the CSK bench.
In the 2020 season, Rahane played 9 matches for the Delhi Capitals, went largely unnoticed. The following season, just 2 matches. Rahane is an afterthought in his IPL team.
Rahane’s Test innings often appear to be an unacceptance of the white ball verdict: even before settling down, he looks to score. That loosely thrown around term, ‘busy cricketer’ seems to be him. His methods are high risk. Yet they come off at least once a series.
With so much uncertainty in his batting, it’s remarkable that he can make significant contributions, albeit the one-off knock per series.
Then there is that other well documented facet, Rahane the captain; the back from the dead turnaround series Down Under. Rahane’s century at Melbourne. There will always be Brisbane. That series victory is in Ajinkya Rahane’s credits. But with a Test average threatening to keel over into the 30s, Rahane is skidding fast on an already slippery slope.
Ajinkya Rahane highest score in the series so far is 61 with two single digit scores.
It’s one thing to defy the media with words, quite another to prep for each innings as your comeback knock.
***
Once upon a time, that was Rohit Sharma. Then something happened. Rohit decided he had more time on his hands than Pujara. He had nowhere to go, and he was going nowhere. He slid back in time to a space when he started batting for the first time in the nets – leave, block, leave, defend, leave. Isn’t that how it starts?
Rohit has always had a stillness to his batting. It’s just that the brain fade before breaks was never far. That continued to mess with his Test career. Yet the love for rekindling Rohit’s Test career was a lifelong obsession with Indian cricket.
Against South Africa at home, Rohit ran into three tons. In Australia, he had starts. Against England at home, Rohit was by far India’s best batsman.
In England this has meant starts in each outing, as also falling to the pull three times in five completed innings.
Rohit Sharma’s highest score so far in the series is 83, with no single digit score.
***
First, Rishabh Pant the batsman bailed out Rishabh Pant the wicketkeeper. Then Pant the batsman bailed out India.
Before that Pant in his short career was scrutinised like few before him. In Australia, he converted all those questions into answers with some of the most emphatic innings by an Indian batsman overseas.
Yet by the Leeds Test, Pant too had dispensed with his defence. Pant’s batting was precarious enough to be in the Rahane or Kohli ballpark.
Pant’s highest score in the series so far is 37, with two single digit scores.
***
Before Pujara’s second innings at Leeds, he laid the foundations for the Lord’s win with Rahane. His 45 (206) was his highest score in the series. Before his 91 at Leeds, he had three single digit sores.
As is often documented, Pujara seems to be the recipient of that cracker delivery. Yet after an indifferent home series against England, Pujara’s troubles outside the off-stump were starting to seem Kohliesque.
Then England bowled poorly to Pujara, allowing him to score rapidly, almost an oxymoron. Pujara’s 91 was as much a contradiction of his poor form, as of England’s bowling effort. A cut through point seemed like a throwaway to a different era.
On the last morning, Pujara’s inability to put away a half volley seemed more like it. The strokeless dismissal that followed seemed almost befitting.
***
Amongst India’s top six, KL Rahul has the lowest Test batting average, the only one in the 30s. He’s also the sole Indian batsman with a century in the series. Picked after Mayank Agarwal’s concussion, Rahul’s last three single digit scores have added to the team’s headache.
Yet Rahul has shown similar application as his opening partner. His 5(44) and 8(89) have amply demonstrated this. What is worrying is, will this be a repeat of Rahul’s earlier trends: 100 or bust?
KL Rahul’s highest score in the series so far is 129. Man of the match at Lord’s for his troubles. The 86 at Nottingham revealed a defence tight enough to belong to his namesake.
***
Virat Kohli alone has a 50 plus batting average. The cushion of captaincy, bygone runs separate Kohli from the rest.
Virat Kohli’s highest score in the series so far is 55, with two single digit scores. He has been dismissed five times. Edged and taken. Each time.
***
What the statistics fail to reveal are the bio-bubbles cricketers have inhabited over the last year. That centuries may not be as accessible as before. That there will be periods when more than half the batting won’t click. That in England, the 250-350 range plus/minus 50 could be more the norm. That even on a flatbed such as Leeds, under bright sunshine, the batting could go missing. That this is James Anderson’s backyard. And he owns the few feet outside your off stump.
If years of facing James Anderson in English conditions have taught India’s top order little, what hope is there for new recruits? But then again, didn’t the summer of 1996 unfurl the careers of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. Back then too, Dravid and Ganguly had two Tests in England– two centuries, a ninety and an eighty later, Indian cricket was redrawn for good.
Unlikely India will change the batting personnel at the Oval. Come Manchester though, it might get personal. And with this Indian bunch, you never know what that means – it could be with the opposition on the field, or leaks in the media. And we all know how that pans out.
The batting needs to breathe, just as it needs to be guarded.
This happened.
This happened. You were alive. And even if you were dead inside, you came alive again. You will not be able to make sense of how it happened, don’t try to. But it happened. Please say it with me again – This happened. Today cannot take away what happened yesterday. It happened.
What today, yesterday, day before, the days before that, the weeks before, a month before, nothing could stop it. It fucking happened.
This was life affirming for many Indians. It was for me. It was for you too, if you’re still reading.
You may have a new favourite Indian cricketer after this series – someone whose game speaks to you. He may even be Prithvi Shaw. You may be the only guy who believes in him. That would be cool. Because if you believe in Shaw, you believe in the impossible, you believe in this team.
You believe that in spite of everything, he will make a comeback. Wasn’t that what this win was about – a comeback?
Believing in Pant and Pujara and Gill is a convenience today. But it is not believing in the ridiculous that this team is about.
Believe in Kuleep Yadav who did not get a game but was part of the squad. That will be something.
Believing in a player when he is down, when his game is down, when he isn’t picked, is believing in the team.
Somewhere that sneaked into this bunch, didn’t it?
That even though, they weren’t first choice, they weren’t an afterthought either. Each guy knew that.
This was desi rap, this was Apna time ayega, and when it ayega, I will hold on to it so tight, that it doesn’t jayega anywhere.
This is that dude’s show whose soundtrack on autopilot is I’m too sexy for your Gabba, kahan lega?
This is Rishabh Pant’s score. Rishabh Pant happened. He was meant to, because all that could have stopped him from happening did not. Catches went down, the stumping went down. The Aussie captain went down. He played one down the ground, Australia went down.
It did not happen that fast. Before that Cheteshwar Pujara happened. Match after match, he happened with Pant. Unlikely as it was, it did. There was an invisible glue that forged a bond between the two, again and again – it was Dravid-Sehwag all over again. It was no mercy, it was Dylan, it was every word about the cricket that sounded like an off-beat folk song. But it endured all these days, and it might just have won the cricket Noble.
“But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone”
The sky did not open. Pujara was unbroken. Long after he appeared broken. He fell. He was not felled. He was almost morbid in his coming together and being whole and taking strike again.
It happened.
Kane Williamson’s World: What if India had dared to embrace it themselves
What’s left to write? Is there anything unsaid? Kane Williamson is on
his way to cricketing sainthood. People who don’t know him want to buy him a
beer. Does he drink beer? Won’t he be happier with some oriental herbal tea
concoction of his own?
As all three, Williamson, teacup and saucer levitate on some higher
plain.
As he strokes his beard a tad, contemplating the slowest, most precise
way to partake of the tea. Waiting for it to cool down to an accessible warmth,
wherein a sip is followed by yet another sip and still another sip – not too
dissimilar to all those dots he played out at the beginning of his innings.
Waiting for the ball to cool down. For his bat to warm up. For bat and ball to
be paired at an equitable temperature. For singles to follow dots, for twos to
follow singles and so on.
The coolness of Williamson moulds with his warmth. There is neither
searing heat nor icy cold. It’s a balance that sinks itself in the journey; a
journey that lasts 100 overs – or if need be, 102 overs.
Uncertainty and an early wicket embrace the preparation. That it’s time
to embark on that arduous uphill trek with a millstone to boot. There would be
something lacking if it weren’t so.
So 29/1 in 6.1 overs builds almost lackadaisically to 102 in the 23rd
over. Williamson falls for 30. After the semifinals, another innings built on
denial. Against India, Williamson started his climb at 1/1 in the fourth over.
Sometimes, the burden is more, sometimes less, sometimes it may appear
to be missing; but it’s Williamson’s acceptance of this burden that makes it so
much less cumbersome. Almost Cumberbatch cool on the contrary.
With paltry strike rates of 70 and 56, Williamson led an ascent in the
two knockouts. Scores of 67 and 30, at three, in a team score of 241 and 239 –
with those boulders of patience, Williamson won the world, nearly the World
Cup.
His opposing No 3s wangled 9(22) and 1(6) in the knockouts.
Somewhere in his preparation, was a prior understanding and acceptance,
a nullifying of greed, that contrarian scores will be enough.
Last year, I attended a presentation by journalist Paul Salopek on his multiyear, 21,000-mile walk across
the world in the footsteps of our forebears. He was still standing, walking and
talking after all those miles; with more to go.
In focus was Slow journalism an offshoot of the
Slow Movement. Carl Honroé, a commentator on the “Slow Movement,”
writes that, “Today we are addicted to speed, to cramming more and more into
every minute. Every moment of the day feels like a race against the clock, a
dash to a finish line that we never seem to reach.”
It appears
that somewhere down the line, Kane Williamson and a few others have not just
rediscovered Slow Cricket but given weight to its importance in the shorter
formats of cricket.
Kane Williamson, man of the series in the 2019 edition of the World Cup
with a tournament strike rate of 75.
And by the look of it, he still had some time on his hands. There was no
finish line he had to catch.
Before the tournament, it often struck me that in its quest for one-day
and T20 top order batsmen, India was missing a trick to play a Test mainstay.
India’s first match was on June 5, still early in the English summer.
As the injuries struck, and the No 4 position remained largely
unresolved, I still had hope that they may look the other way.
With two wicketkeepers and two leggies in the playing eleven, none of
who were gun fielders, would India dare to accommodate a specialist top order
Test batsman even though fielding wasn’t his strong suit?
What if he was one of the best leavers of the cricket ball? What if his
edges hid from the seeking, moving ball?
In hindsight, it’s those leaves that were not to be that ate India in
the semifinals. Rohit edged, Rahul edged, Kohli nearly edged. India edged out
of the contest at 24/4.
Cheteshwar Pujara has played 5 ODIs in all, from August 2013 to June
2014. The numbers are not flattering.
He was the man of the series in India’s maiden Test series win in
Australia.
Pujara’s Test numbers are not too dissimilar to those of Williamson’s –
he’s played 68 to the Kiwi’s 72 Tests; his batting average is 51 to Williamson’s
53; and a strike rate of 46 to Kane’s 51.
Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav may not play for India again. At best,
they were lower middle order. Unlikely Vijay Shankar will turn up either.
Wasn’t he lower middle order himself?
Before this World Cup, like Pujara, Rishabh Pant had also played just 5
ODIs. He was more a lower middle order batsman who was being shoehorned as
India’s No. 4. A book called Great Expectations could be written on what India
expected of Pant and Pant alone. But that’s another story.
The story here is that most likely Rohit Sharma will make the playing XI
in the first Test vs West Indies on 3rd August. A Test career with
enough stops and starts to make a rainy World Cup day in England proud, Rohit’s
ODI form translates into Test picks.
Nearly six years since his debut for those 27 Tests. (with a lion’s
share of the innings at No. 6 and 5)
What if the selectors had shown the same belief in a top order Test
batsman who’s accustomed to playing the moving ball?
Guess we’ll never know.
Then again, a journalist asked Kane Williamson if he would play MS Dhoni
in his XI for the World Cup semis. Would’ve been interesting to have heard his
reply for Cheteshwar Pujara in his XI?
Or for that matter, Ajinkya Rahane?
But then that would’ve been plain, old fashioned. And Indian cricket
doesn’t have the time for that kind of thing.
First published here
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