The cricketer who personified the art of Change Management
Change is the only constant. To get along and be in sync with this constant change, each one of us needs to adhere to change management. Navigating the bumpy waters of change can be a difficult task. But one can sail through it, remaining unscathed provided there is proper planning and execution to the adopted process. One cricketer who is certainly relishing the challenges and embracing change is Cheteshwar Pujara.
Hailing from the quiet town of Saurashtra, Pujara was drafted into the Indian Test team in the year 2010. The first four years of his International career were very fruitful and he made significant contributions. Several cricketing pundits and gurus were showering heaps of praise about his batting. They felt he was the apt cricketer to replace the shoes of the legendary Rahul Dravid.
Year 2014 was a forgetful year for Pujara. He was woefully out of form and had a string of low scores in England and Australia. He was neither able to counter the swinging deliveries in England nor was he able to get adjusted to bouncy tracks in Australia. Pujara was finally shown the door when he was not picked in the final Test at Sydney in 2015. Skipper Virat Kohli also pinpointed that he was unable to force the pace and keep the scoreboard ticking.
Any other cricketer at that moment would have indulged in a lot of introspection and self doubt. But Pujara was completely unruffled and considered that moment as just a learning curve in his career. He reworked on his batting by having a short stint with Yorkshire and decided to make a strong return into the Indian team.
Due to the absence of Murali Vijay, Pujara made his comeback against Sri Lanka and carried his bat by scoring an unbeaten 145. The incredible journey had indeed started from there. He continued to remind the selectors and critics of his mettle by scoring centuries against various oppositions.
Pujara's main strength is his resilience. He has the ability to make minor adjustments to his batting technique in order to cope up different conditions. He uses his feet well against the spinners, lowers his back lift in South Africa and Australia and plays close to the body in swinging conditions. All these technical adjustments has paid rich dividends for him and to the team. He holds one end up and allows other batsmen to play their natural game. He is certainly the mainstay of this Indian batting line up.
A humble man, he himself summed up his role by saying that 'When you're playing Test cricket for your country, you can't just play your natural game. You play the circumstances.' Pujara has certainly stood a testimony by adapting himself to various circumstances.
At 30, he is still going strong and he is definitely the man for all reasons and seasons to come.