Pujara’s English lessons

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, November 17

Only 21 overs were bowled today, the second consecutive rain-hit day of the first Test, but they were enough for Cheteshwar Pujara to demonstrate the art of playing on a grassy wicket.

India made 58 runs in these 21 overs, losing two wickets to the Sri Lankan pace, and were 74/5 when rain started falling in buckets and the day’s play was over at 11 in the morning.

India could have been bowled out today if it were not for Pujara’s masterclass.

Pujara hit nine fours in his 47 runs and ran only 11 runs, but don’t imagine for a moment that it was an attacking innings — he played a very high number of 82 dot balls, and his scoring rate was only 46.07.

Day of respect

What did Pujara do right? Well, he respected the bowling and the conditions. The modern batsman attacks the ball, hits it on the rise in India, believes in “expressing myself”. That has become possible only because the wickets have become very docile, the bats more powerful, the grounds smaller, the great fast bowlers almost extinct.

But when this sort of wicket is presented to the batsmen, only the most technically adept, most patient batsmen survive. Then, the experience of playing on such wickets helps. Of India’s premier batsmen, only Pujara has been playing in the English county circuit — during that time of the year, the others are busy mauling the bowlers in the Indian Premier League.

This year Pujara played eight matches for Nottinghamshire, in which he faced 716 balls and made 333 runs. His average was a paltry 27.75, but he did get a hundred, and he did get to work on his mental discipline and hone his technique in the English conditions.

The playing conditions here — grass on the pitch, dark skies, persistent rain — are more English than Indian. In such conditions, English discretion is more valuable than Indian flair.

It’s instructive that the longest partnership of the innings was between two batsmen who played in this year’s English county season. Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin played out 52 deliveries, the most by a pair in this innings. Ashwin played six innings in four matches for Worcestershire this year; during that stint, he played 289 balls and made 214 runs. He made one mistake in his innings, and that proved fatal. It was the typical mistake an Indian batsman makes — driving the ball on the rise, away from the body.

Dos and don’t dos

Pujara made no such mistakes. He showed what needs to be done, and what needs to be avoided, on such a wicket.

He showed that it’s critical to play the ball close to your body — in other words, you must not reach out for the ball; it’s critical also to play with a straight bat, in the V between mid-on and mid-off. Most critical of all is disciplining the mind: When the first session begins, you need to plan to be still around in the third session. That’s the time when the ball is softer and its seam less prominent, and the lead pace bowlers tired. That’s the time to get some runs off the third seamer or the part-timers.

Of the five Indian batsmen who have fallen to Sri Lankan pace, two got almost unplayable deliveries — KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. Three others made the mistake of driving aggressively outside off — Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Ashwin himself. That’s almost always a fatal error when you’re playing in England. And in the first two days here in Kolkata, it seemed like England.

Nic Pothas, the Sri Lankan coach, paid his compliments to Pujara, and pointed out the utility of playing in England. “He is a world-class player. That innings shows the benefit of him playing county cricket,” said Pothas. “That is definitely a wicket you find in April and May and he played the conditions well.”

Kohli sought a green wicket in Kolkata to give his batsmen a workout on a seaming track. They’ve got a torrid workout. Hopefully, they’ll learn from the masterclass Pujara has given them.