The scene was Southampton, back in 2014, and Rohit Sharma was playing his first Test of the England tour. In reply to 569/7d, India were rebuilding after a poor start and he was batting on 28*. There were five minutes before tea, and Moeen Ali came on to bowl.
On the second delivery, Sharma stepped up and tried to deposit it over the fence. Instead, he was caught at mid-off. Sharma was disappointed of course, and you can imagine the reaction in the press box, on social media, and everywhere else. To say he was admonished for that horrendous shot selection would be an understatement.
Time and again, on umpteen overseas tours, India have spoken about the need to see out sessions. Especially when a partnership is developing or growing, there needs to be impetus on not losing crucial wickets. It was relevant in 2014, when India’s slide began in that Test series and they lost 3-1. It is still relevant today in 2018, when Cheteshwar Pujara holed out to fine leg off Chris Woakes, a minute before lunch.
Anticipation: That was the mood as India had made good start to the game, only for Chris Woakes to wreck it all with quick wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul. Pujara was at the crease with Virat Kohli, and barring a repeat of that horrendous run-out, you assumed that they would see India out till lunch and rebuild the innings. Even lightning doesn’t strike twice, and so you could be hopeful of an anchoring job from the duo. After all, these were the best batting conditions the visitors had got all series, and these two only know too well how to make hay when the sun is shining.
Inexplicable: Nine times out of ten, Pujara won’t play that shot, not in the last over before lunch. Wait, that number doesn’t seem right. 99 times out of 100? Nope. 999 times out of 1000? Maybe. Higher? Surely not!
Exasperation: It did happen though. It wasn’t even a short ball properly targeted at the batsman. Maybe Woakes was just waiting for lunch bells to toll. Maybe, he just wanted to tempt the batsman or push him back for the next ball. If it were a ploy to get Pujara out, would England really put Adil Rashid – the fielder who failed to spot the ball at Lord’s – on the boundary?
Perhaps not even England expected that Pujara would go for such a shot, and yet he did. A nonchalant hook, that was meant to sail over fine leg, and instead it found Rashid. Out!
Frustration: When was the last time you saw Pujara play a hook shot? It is hard to remember, so much so that cricket statisticians’ search engines were powered on. Apparently Pujara has been dimissed four times in his Test career playing the pull/hook shot, said a random Tweet. This was only the first instance in five years though. It didn’t justify what had happened.
Pujara was disappointed with the shot, of course. He couldn’t believe what he had done, and then slowly started walking back. Meanwhile, the umpires called lunch. Pujara stopped and waited, for Kohli to catch up to him. Only, the skipper didn’t. He walked at a slower pace and let Pujara walk ahead, back to the pavilion alone. There was nothing to be said.
Probably, Kohli didn’t want to say anything. It was his mistake that cost Pujara at Lord’s and India crumbled after that. This time Kohli was a mere spectator. It was the batsman’s fault all alone. If Rohit was chastised for his poor shot selection, Pujara ought to be met with same fate.
Disappointment: It is the underlying point. You expect a mercurial batsman like Rohit to play such shots, and not be deterred by conditions or situations. ‘Natual game’ is a ready-made excuse for the likes of him, but not for someone like Pujara. He is supposed to grind, dig himself in, drop anchor and then weigh in with hefty runs.
The problem is that those runs haven’t come. Pujara has done everything in the recent months to try and get over this lean patch, whether playing at home or overseas, for India or Yorkshire, against Afghanistan or South Africa/England. Instead, he has got misery.
At this point in time, Pujara is that man who is hell bent on gambling his millions in any casino he can find. Why? He wants to over turn his luck. So, he goes to play poker first, and loses. Then he loses at black jack, and then at roulette. He keeps on losing until he finally squanders his fortune.
Pujara’s last innings of note came against South Africa at Johannesburg. He consumed a lot of deliveries in the first innings to score 19 runs, and then scored 50 in the second innings. In tough, raging, green-top conditions, it underlined his value. A number three batsman capable of dropping anchor is vital to any Indian batting line-up. And to any casino, a gambler is very important – that’s how they run their business. But not when the purse starts to run empty.
Never mind that half-century at the Wanderers, Pujara averages 14.66 in nine innings against South Africa and England this year. That’s nine innings Karun Nair won’t get. That’s nine innings not invested in any other batsman of pedigree. Sure, the argument will always stand that Pujara was unceremoniously dropped at Birmingham, but there comes a tipping point when you need to make opportunity count.
Currently, Pujara is busy – in running out of form in County cricket, in running out altogether, or holing out with insipid shot selection, when playing for India. There is only so much that can be blamed on words like ‘intent’ or ‘gut feeling’.
Maybe he was doing exactly that – showing intent in attacking the ball, never mind the situation, or going by gut instinct and hooking the short ball.
Or, maybe, it is time to finally ponder that Pujara has one innings left to justify his spot in the Indian team, before the selectors pick the squad for the fourth and fifth Tests.
Who wants to be in the gambler’s shoes when he is placing the last bet – all in?