IND vs NZ Live: ‘Virat Kohli last scored a hundred in November 2019‘. This is something which even a kid following the sport knows by now. A flurry of articles highlighting Kohli’s century drought after each of his dismissals is a common procedure now. The Indian captain was castled at 36 on Sunday.
IND vs NZ Live: Cheteshwar Pujara without an international hundred for 1067 days now, pressure rises
Amid all these, there is Cheteshwar Pujara, one of country’s most famous No. 3 – often tagged with the title of ‘India’s new wall’. The 33-year-old plays gritty knocks every now and then and that has kept his place safe but often on the line in the recent few years.
The veteran of 92 Test matches so far, has not hit an international hundred since January 3, 2019. Almost three years without a ton from a batsman who bats at number three! To be precise, 1067 days have gone by since the Saurashtra star was last seen taking off his helmet to acknowledge the applause from the fans and his teammates.
On Saturday, during India’s second innings in the ongoing second Test against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium – Pujara scored handy 47 runs but failed to reach the much-talked about three-figure mark by 53 runs.
It would not be wrong to say that India did not make New Zealand to follow-on despite bundling the visitors out for 62 because they wanted two of their best batsmen to spend some time in the middle and end all the talks around their form and inability to convert after starts.
However, Kohli and Pujara failed to break the jinx once again. Ajaz Patel took note of Pujara’s familiar fashion of dismissal in the recent past, dropped a delivery on the off stump which spun away, again forcing the right-hander to hand a catch to the slip fielder.
Cheteshwar Pujara was one of the three batters whose place was in questing heading into the second Test. The rope which Pujara is getting is just getting longer and longer now.
Since his hundred in 2019, Pujara has played 24 matches and scored 1163 runs at an average of 28.36. He has got out on a duck on four occasions, and have managed to cross the 50-run mark on 11 occasions.
With the likes Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari waiting on the sidelines, it will be interesting to see how the Indian cricket team management deals with Pujara’s case during the South Africa tour. Considering Pujara’s experience and Rahul Dravid’s belief in the batsman, he is sure to travel with the team but what happens there will be something to watch out for.
IND vs NZ Live: Cheteshwar Pujara without an international hundred for 1067 days now, pressure rises