Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was said to be the next ‘wall’ of the Indian cricket team in red ball format. Pujara’s ability to bat all day long and tire out the bowler and force him to bowl loose balls was something only he could do. However, Pujara failed to score runs for a while, so he was excluded from the red-ball setup.
Now, when the Indian team lost unilaterally to South Africa in the first Test at Centurion, Indian fans might have remembered Cheteshwar Pujara. The Indian batsmen could not carry out the lethal South African attack and showed very poor technique.
However, someone like Cheteshwar Pujara, who is a completely technical batsman, would have played better shots in the conditions and could have also led the Indian team to victory. Former Indian player Harbhajan Singh also feels that Team India does not have a better Test batsman than Cheteshwar Pujara.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh could not understand the reason behind Cheteshwar Pujara’s exclusion from the Test team against South Africa. Harbhajan stated that India does not have a better Test batsman than Cheteshwar Pujara and, because he plays slowly, he has won games for the country in Australia and England.
Harbhajan Singh praises Cheteshwar Pujara
Harbhajan Singh, “I didn’t select Ajinkya Rahane and left out Cheteshwar Pujara for no reason. These are the two players who have scored runs all over the place. If you look at the previous record, Pujara has the same contribution as Kohli. I don’t understand why they have left out Pujara, we still don’t have a better batsman than Pujara in Test cricket. He plays slow but saves you, thanks to him India won the tests in Australia and England.”
“In three days, India did not even appear in the game. They scored 245 runs after losing the toss in the first innings and it was all thanks to KL Rahul. He played a fantastic knock which pushed India’s score to 245. In the second innings, India could only score 131 and if Virat Kohli’s contribution is taken out, it would have been more difficult. The match was decided based on India’s performance in the first innings,” Harbhajan added.
Cheteshwar Pujara was excluded from the Indian team after the Border Gavaskar Trophy was played against Australia earlier this year. Pujara could not perform well throughout the series, which became the reason for his departure from the team.
Cheteshwar Pujara has played a total of 103 Tests for the Indian cricket team and has scored 7195 runs at an average of 43.60. Pujara has also scored 19 hundreds followed by 35 half-centuries.
The Indian team will want a batsman like Cheteshwar Pujara when they downplay it South Africa in the second Test Match of the series at Sahara Park Newlands in Cape Town starting on January 3.
The Indian team will want to end the South African tour with a victory and level the Test series. The Indian team suffered a heavy defeat in the 2023-25 World Test Championship qualification and moved to sixth place.
The two-time WTC finalists may find it difficult to qualify for the next final of the biggest test event if they lose the second test match in Cape Town.
The Indian team has lost twice in Cape Town in the last two tours and it will be a tough challenge for them from January 3 onwards. However, Ravindra Jadeja’s return could boost their confidence.
