Faster and better Cheteshwar Pujara delights skipper Virat Kohli

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara

Kanpur: It's a virtual second coming for Cheteshwar Pujara. A string of low scores in recent Test matches had dented the confidence so much that he was virtually turning into a 'strokeless wonder'. In the Test matches in the Caribbean, he just could not dominate the bowling, so much so that he lost his place to Rohit Sharma. His batting strike rate was not helping India's cause when they were also up against the weather in the West Indies. Things did not look too bright for him, with skipper Virat Kohli preferring a more aggressive but less dependable Rohit.

The Indian team management had spoken to the Saurashtra batsman about flaws in his game and how it was hurting India's cause due to his crawl while batting. However, things changed for the better for Pujara during the recent Duleep Trophy, played with the pink ball under lights at Greater Noida. It was like Pujara reinventing himself by scoring a big hundred and a double ton at a fast clip.

Kohli was mightily pleased with the performance of Pujara as it augurs well for the team in a home season where they are set to play as many as 13 Tests. "Pujara is someone who absorbs the pressure really well, but after a certain stage in the innings there comes a time when the team needs runs. That's where we felt that he has the ability to capitalise. It was just about conveying that to him. He has worked hard on his game. He scored at a good strike rate in the Duleep Trophy. Even on this wicket he was scoring at 65, almost 70 strike rate," Kohli opined about Pujara at the end of the Kanpur Test.

"This for me was a revelation to see Pujara bat that way, because he used to bat fluently when he started his career, especially at home. If you see his double-hundreds against England and Australia, he will dominate spinners. That's exactly what we wanted him to do. We didn't want him to go into a shell. We want Pujara to bat to his potential. Once he starts scoring runs to go with the composure he already has, it becomes very difficult for the opposition to have control of the game. That's all we wanted to convey to him," Kohli said.