How Pujara’s current performances are on par with that of Sunil Gavaskar’s in the 1971 series in West Indies
Though there are still three days left in the Sydney test, India has already moved to a very dominant position with Australia trailing India by 386 runs in the first innings with just four first innings wickets in hand. So, at this point, an India victory is the most likely result, with an Indian defeat almost an impossibility.
And in the likely event of an Indian series win, the credit will go to all the players concerned. Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling efforts will be remembered for a long time to come. But the batting efforts of Cheteshwar Pujara will certainly be considered as the biggest contributing factor.
In fact, a case can be made that only very few Indian batsmen have been able to achieve what Pujara has achieved in this series. The only possible comparison that comes to mind is that of the little master Sunil Gavaskar’s contribution to India’s first test series win in the Caribbean when he scored a whopping 774 runs.
Gavaskar, who was making his international debut back then, smashed four centuries and a double-century to help India achieve their first Test series victory in the Caribbean. They won the five-match Test series 1-0, with four matches being drawn. This was just the beginning for the Little Master as he would go on to represent India for almost 17 years.
Of course, there have been great batting feats achieved by many other great Indian batsmen. Kohli’s terrific run as a batsman in the 2014-15 series against Australia or Sachin’s contribution during the same opponents in the 2007-08 series certainly deserves all the accolades. Even Rahul Dravid had one of his best series as a batsman in Australia during India’s four-test tour in the 2003-04 series. But none of those individual contributions contributed to an Indian series victory.
Pujara has not got the due he deserves as one of India’s greatest test batsmen ever. His time has finally come, and it is time to acknowledge that the 2018-19 Australia test series is Pujara’s series, just like the 1970-71 West Indies series was Gavaskar’s.
Gavaskar and Pujara, two Indian batsmen with possibly the best defensive techniques ever in the annals of cricket, will be talked of in the same breath as the ones who gifted India their first ever test series victories in West Indies and Australia, respectively.