IND vs ENG 2021: “Great incentive for both of them” - Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara’s century drought
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has stated that since Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara haven’t scored hundreds in a long time, they have a great incentive to stand up and deliver the goods in England. Gavaskar also urged the duo to make up for lost opportunities in the upcoming five-Test series.
Skipper Kohli’s last international century came during the pink-ball Test match against Bangladesh in Kolkata back in November 2019. As for Pujara, who only plays the longer format of the game, he hasn’t crossed three-figures since January 2019 in Sydney.
In an interview with The Hindu ahead of the India-England Test series, Gavaskar termed both Kohli and Pujara as great players. On their lack of big scores, he commented:
“I think it is a great incentive for both of them. Both of them are run-hungry batsmen. Both of them want to get big hundreds, so the fact that they have not been able to get a three-figure mark for some time is… Once they get to it, they will need to go past and make up for fact that haven’t got one for some time."
Gavaskar added:
"But I don’t think it is going to play on their minds, it doesn’t play on your mind. No batsman thinks that far ahead. A good or great batsman only thinks about the next ball, they don’t even think of the previous ball, and both these batsmen without doubt are very great players.”
Cheteshwar Pujara’s method has worked for him and India: Sunil Gavaskar
Over the last year, there has been a growing debate over whether Pujara needs to alter his defensive methods and adopt a more run-scoring approach. The India No.3 was criticized quite often in Australia for his slow batting. Eventually, though, India ended up winning the series.
Pujara was, however, targeted again following his twin failures in the WTC final. According to Gavaskar, the Saurashtra batsman needs to back the method that has brought him success and retain his self-belief. The Indian legend stated:
“Pujara has got to the international level playing a certain way, he has got to trust that method. If the team doesn’t trust that method, I think they have to look for somebody else. But this is a method that’s worked for him, worked for India."
Gavaskar added:
"He has held the fort at one end while the strokeplayers at the other end have been at liberty to play their shots knowing that there is a solid player at one end. I think he’s got to believe in himself and carry on playing as he knows best because he has done a fantastic job for India over the years.”
33-year-old Pujara will be under pressure going into the series. Since the historic 2018-19 triumph Down Under, he has scored only 841 runs in 18 Tests at an average of 28.03 with a best of 81.