Cheteshwar Pujara and the art of scoring 300s

Cheteshwar Pujara

When the Indian cricket fans were still mourning the retirement announcement of Sachin Tendulkar, a new star of Indian cricket was shining bright in the remote town of Hubli. Cheteshwar Pujara hit an unbeaten triple ton to show the signs of being the next superstar of test cricket.

With India A trailing 1-0 in the series against West Indies A, Pujara’s 306 n.o. swung the balance in India A’s favour. India A took a first innings lead of 296 runs. Unfortunately for Gautam Gambhir, his patient 123 went largely unnoticed.

This triple hundred, the third in his first class career made him the member of an elite club of batsmen who have scored three or more first class triple hundreds. On the top of that list is the greatest of all times, Sir Donald Bradman with 6 triple hundreds. Pujara is now in the league with likes of Brian Lara and Mike Hussey with 3 triple hundreds.

He was showered with encomiums after his innings. He was extolled for his technique, patience and maturity at the age of 25. However, a surprising fact is that he is neither the first Indian to achieve this nor is he the youngest. In the list I mentioned earlier, along with Lara and Hussey is our very own Sir Ravindra Jadeja who achieved this at the age of 23.This actually shows the promise in his batting along with his underutilization in the team as a batsman who is widely considered to be a T20 player.

This accomplishment by Pujara confirms what many of the analysts have been speculating about his mental strength and ability as a test batsman. His innings was a beautiful exhibition of craft, concentration and character. He didn’t look in any hurry as he drove the team’s innings almost single handed. Every shot in his innings showed such calm and serenity as if we were looking at a reflection of Rahul Dravid.

Even before commencing his international career, he was being compared to a great like Dravid. His technique, his composure, his hard fought innings and even his strike rate, everything looked similar. After Dravid’s retirement from international cricket, when Pujara stepped into his shoes at one-down, comparisons were inevitable.

Despite having all these similarities, he is not just a younger version of Rahul Dravid, he is something more. Dravid never hit a triple ton in his whole first class career while Pujara already has 3 and it won’t be a surprise if he surpasses Lara, Hussey and Jadeja soon. With BCCI entrusting him with the captaincy of India A, he can even lead Indian team in future if Dhoni quits test cricket or leaves captaincy.

With all the merits that he has, he is definitely a star in the making. He is yet to achieve a lot before he can even be considered equal to Rahul Dravid. But one thing is sure, if he goes on like this, he won’t end his career as a second Rahul Dravid, he will be the first Cheteshwar Pujara.