Cheteshwar Pujara declared his retirement from all forms of cricket on Sunday, August 24, and Kris Srikkanth dubbed him one of the top three Indian batters in Tests in Australia.
Pujara ended his career after amassing 7195 runs in 103 Tests at an average of 43.61. He played significant roles in India’s Border-Gavaskar series victories over Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21. In the 2018-19 season, he was selected Player of the Series. Meanwhile, in 2020-21, he scored the second most runs for India. The Asian titans won both series by the same score of 2-1.
Pujara scored 993 runs from 11 Tests in Australia, averaging 47.28. According to Srikkanth, the 37-year-old ranks third among Indian batters in terms of performance down under. The former India captain retained Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli as the top two hitters in his rankings.
“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 in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
Srikkanth said that Pujara should be getting more credit and recognition for his performances as a red-ball cricketer for India. The former expressed his disappointment, saying that Pujara should have dominated the headlines after announcing his retirement.
“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.
If Rahul Dravid was the wall, Cheteshwar Pujara was a mini-wall: Srikkanth
Srikkanth lauded Pujara’s consistency and mentioned how he broke into the Test team when stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were still playing. The former India opener also drew parallels between Pujara and Dravid for their ability to wear out bowlers with their compact defensive techniques.
“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,” he added.
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