Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth has rated Cheteshwar Pujara as India’s third-best Test batter in Australian conditions after Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Pujara played a key role in India’s maiden Test series win on Australian soil. Pujara scored 521 runs in four Test matches against the Aussies at an average of 74.43, including three centuries.
On the 2020-21 tour of Australia, Pujara amassed 271 runs in four Test matches at an average of 33.88. Overall, Pujara scored 993 runs in 11 Test matches in Australia at an average of 47.28.
On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli scored 1809 and 1542 runs respectively while playing Down Under.
Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “It should be Sachin, Virat, Pujara as 1, 2, 3. We all know Sachin is god and Virat is king. But for Pujara to have played at their level in Australia is amazing. Fast bowlers always prefer batters playing shots so that their chances of taking wickets increases. But, the likes of Pujara made a deadly ball look like a dead-ball through his leaving abilities. That was his real strength.”
Srikkanth said Pujara doesn’t get the recognition he deserves despite playing more than 100 Test matches.
“My only frustration is over Pujara not getting the recognition someone with over 100 Tests deserves. Despite boasting such an incredible track record, no one is calling him a big player. As he retires, everyone is tweeting about him but not hailing him the way they should. Yet, so many other cricketers retiring dominate the headlines. That’s only because he doesn’t play ODIs or T20S,” he said.
Pujara played 103 Tests and 5 ODIs for India after making his debut back in 2010. He scored 7,195 Test runs at an average of 43.60, with 19 hundreds and 35 fifties.
The former attacking opener Srikkanth said Pujara was able to break into the team when the big players like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were still playing.
“What I like about Pujara is his consistency throughout his career. At the start in 2010, he was fighting with Rahul Dravid for a spot in the Test side. He was competing with a lot of big names and got into the team when the big daddies, like Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid were there. Even Virat Kohli was in the mix,” said Srikkanth.
“Infact, he made his Test debut even before Virat Kohli. Let’s remember No. 3 is a very important position. Pujara was the master at wearing the bowlers down. If Rahul Dravid was the wall, Pujara was a mini-wall.”
Overall, Pujara finishes with 21301 runs from 278 first-class games at an average of 51.82 and 66 hundreds and three triple hundreds.
