In Pujara’s case, it was about having trust in his defence and a method to do so.
Since his retirement, one common term associated with Cheteshwar Pujara has been ‘grit’. He is easily rated one of the grittiest batters ever, someone who could play out sessions after sessions in the most precarious conditions. However, it’s not only about grit; no one can survive based on grit if there’s no technique.
In Pujara’s case, it was about having trust in his defence and a method to do so. During his Test career, only four batters played more balls than his 16217. He might not have the highest of the averages, but Pujara’s balls-per-dismissal of 98.28 was the highest among all Indians with at least 2500 runs during his playing days.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s impact extended beyond his own runs and balls faced. Ravichandran Ashwin made an interesting comment about his career, underlining how his presence enabled Virat Kohli and other batters to score more than they would in his absence. That stands true to a large extent.
Among all innings where Pujara batted in the top three, batters between No.4 and 6 collectively averaged 42.33 and scored 45 centuries at 10.37 innings per hundred. When he didn’t play in the top three, the average fell to 36.76 with only seven centuries at 20 innings per hundred. That was mostly because he played out the new ball and made conditions slightly easier for the remaining ones.
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Most of his runs obviously came at No.3, where he played 88.06% of his total innings. In all the matches he played, the opponent’s No.3 averaged 37.27 and faced around 78.14 balls per innings. However, Pujara’s average stood at a solid 44.41, and he handled around 95.89 balls on average.
This was when he played on the most treacherous batting pitches, sometimes at home and mostly away. He faced 300+ balls in an innings as many as eight times, the most among all Indian batters during his career span. Pujara is the only Indian batter to face 500+ balls in one stay and the third to bat on all five days.
During his career, Cheteshwar Pujara was involved in the most century partnerships (44), followed by Virat Kohli (39) and Ajinkya Rahane (29). However, this doesn’t mean he was the biggest contributor. What mattered was his ability to keep one end tight and allow his partner to score freely.
Among all Indian batters with at least 2500 runs, Pujara contributed the second-lowest percentage of runs in partnerships (44.25). Only Murali Vijay had a lower figure (43.59). But during the partnerships, he played 33.2% of the team’s deliveries.
Even as an overall, Pujara played the highest percentage of the team’s balls (13.14). This gives a clear message: While he didn’t do the bulk scoring, his methods allowed him to stay longer at the crease than his partner. That meant he was able to form more partnerships with other batters, which is a reason why he was part of most century stands.
Take Gabba 2021, for instance. Pujara kept one end tight by playing out as many as 211 deliveries in the fourth innings and ensured Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant were able to do their thing one by one in a historic win. There was also a ton in Colombo, where he opened the innings and carried his bat as the opposition went past everyone but him.
His impact lasted beyond runs, as he helped others prosper by doing the boring part. Then, to think, he was India’s second-leading run-getter as well from his debut to the final Test. That dip during the final phase won’t change the fact that Pujara was India’s second-best Test batter in the previous decade.
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