Following all the controversy surrounding Cheteshwar Pujara’s selection as the Test team’s vice captain rather than Rishabh Pant, the former has finally responded to the detractors with a valiant performance in Chattogram against Bangladesh. Following the early dismissals of Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul, the right-hander needed to maintain composure. Pujara rose to the situation to demonstrate how important he is still to the team as the third player.
The 34-year-old revived the Indian innings with a resolute 90 off 203 balls with 11 fours and a 149-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer for the fifth wicket. His outstanding innings ended when Taijul Islam finally got through his defences. Wasim Jaffer, a former Indian hitter, offered his opinion on the error. Wasim Jaffer believed that Pujara utilised his skillset and withstood pressure to prevent the team’s potential collapse. He also mentioned that Pujara would be struggling to come to terms with missing the century and praised him for making an impression right away despite just playing one format.
“He is somebody you know what kind of job he is going to do and it was the standard Cheteshwar Pujara. Wicket were falling from the other end and he (Pujara) was soaking all the pressure up. Taking his time and anything loose, he was scoring runs on it. He will be unfortunate and will be feeling unlucky to miss out on a very good hundred,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo in a video after day one’s play.
“On top of that, Test cricket has not been played regularly and he’s (Pujara) been in and out. He’s played County Cricket and little bit for Saurashtra. But coming in straightaway and getting into his groove is what Cheteshwar Pujara is all about and I’m happy for him. He did all the hard yards, took his time early on, played the spinners really well and when he got the opportunity to score, he never missed out,” he added.