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At the start of the Ranji Trophy season in 2007-08, it would have taken a man of gargantuan risk appetite to lay a punt on Saurashtra’s progress to the knock-out stage of the Super League. That is precisely what had then happened, and in almost a manner that India, as no-hopers had gone on to clinch the 1983 World Cup, Saurashtra reached the semi-finals of this premier tournament. That they crashed out of the tournament in the semi-final can be very well attributed to one major factor, amongst others, and that is the twin-failure of a young, nineteen year old batsman who answered to the call of Cheteshwar Pujara.
It is not often that a youngster influences the results of his team as much as Pujara had in the previous season. Such was Pujara’s influence on the fortunes of his team that Saurashtra almost invariably struggled when he failed. As the dust settled on the 2007-08 season of this oldest domestic tournament in India, it emerged that Pujara had topped the batting charts by scoring more than 800 runs in the eight matches that he had played in, at mammoth average of almost 75! And lest one forgets, he was only nineteen at that time, clearly, a one-man army like a James Bond on a run-scoring mission!
Born in Rajkot, Pujara is the son of former Ranji trophy player Arvind, and known for his vociferous hunger for runs. A triple century at the under-14 level, a double against England at the under-19 - which had the British media raving - a century in only his second first class match and the couple of triple centuries in the under-22s has left the selectors with no option but to consider Pujara as one of the strongest contenders for an international berth.
However, it was in the Under-19 World Cup of 2006 that Pujara first shot to fame. Though India managed to lose the finals of the tournament to arch-rivals Pakistan, Pujara slammed a chart-topping 349 runs at an average of 116 runs per inning to come into public eyes. The story was the same; each time he slammed a big score, India went on to clinch the rubber with an ease, where as the finals saw him fail and in turn India lose out on holding the trophy aloft.
Not too many teenagers, since the time of Sachin Tendulkar, and later, the late Dhruv Pandove, have commanded so much attention as Pujara has had in the last year or so. If his Ranji Trophy campaign last year was something that caught the eye of the men who matter, it was his vociferous appetite to score triple hundreds that has had the tongue of the common man rolling. In fact, such has been his influence - and that is due to the sheer stack of runs that he has compiled - that even the average Indian armchair critic was rooting for the selection of this precocious 19-year old, to the Indian test squad. Even before this, Pujara’s name had been up for discussion immediately after the Under-19 World Cup in 2006, but was then thought to be too young to be coming to grips with the rigors of international cricket. Young he still is, but with a couple of seasons of first class cricket behind his back, it may not be such a bad idea to fast-track him into one of the shorter versions of the game at least.
And this is not without reason. Three triple centuries in the span of a month speak volumes of this young man’s stroke-play, application, but most definitely his ability to concentrate for long periods of time. It would be unfair to compare him with a Rahul Dravid just yet, but if experts are to be believed, his defence is as compact as it can get. To prop that up, it is a reasonably big surprise when one looks at his strike rate through out his short career. If the last domestic season had seen him get his scores at a reasonable enough scoring rate of 60 runs per 100 deliveries, the same has shot up to more than 84 this year! To put it in the right perspective, this is a statistic that Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar have managed in the shorter format of the game; the ODIs! This lethal combination of impeccable and difficult-to-dislodge defence and the ability to take the bowlers to sword has meant that most of the cherry-wielders find themselves in a similar situation as the bowlers who bowled to the Sir Don Bradman.
Almost every former and current cricketer who has seen Pujara bat, has christened him as the next big hope of Indian cricket. While Dravid has spoken about positively about his mental toughness, Venkatesh Prasad seems to have been impressed with the lad’s ‘willingness to learn’. On the other hand, Pujara’s coach, Debu Mitra, who has worked with him - and had earlier been with Sourav Ganguly too - lauds his shot selection which go well with his long powers of concentration; something that has earned him those huge comparisons with Dravid himself. This could be act like a double-edged sword for a cricketer as young as Pujara is. While the encouragement should be a huge morale-booster, it would also put that much more pressure on the youngster. With the kind of media attention and pointed focus that can be forced upon anything remotely worth focussing on, Pujara would do well to steer away from putting himself under undue stress. It is here that his father, Arvind, a former Ranji trophy player himself, could play a role in developing his son’s future, by prohibiting this early success from going into his head, too soon.
What a Cheteshwar Pujara also brings to the table is competition for places. With the likes of Pujara coming through the ranks, and quickly at that, the Yuvraj Singhs and the Rohit Sharmas can ill-afford to take their places in the team for granted. Pujara’s multi-dimensional batting suits both the forms of the game, and this would be a huge plus on his curriculum vitae, for now. This would also ensure that the current batsmen have their feet glued to the ground, or run the risk of giving away their slot to the youngster. All said and done, the case with Pujara’s selection could just be a question of when, and not whether. All this can only augur well for Indian cricket.

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