Cheteshwar Pujara On Why Teams Fail In Overseas Test

Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the batsman to rely on during overseas tour. But his sub-par performance in New Zealand raised a few eyebrows.

India were outclassed in New Zealand. It was an all-round failure and their batsmen failed to provide any resilience.

Importance of limited overs cricket has increased: Cheteshwar Pujara

The Test cricket has lost its glory. Though it still remains the purest form of the game, the fun and thrill which the limited-overs format, especially T20I has to offer has overshadowed the quality of cricket.

Pujara, who has proved his technical superiority in Tests, feels it is difficult to produce a lot of quality players. Not many give importance to the longest format of the game.

“The importance of limited overs cricket has increased significantly. You are not getting too many quality Test players. Earlier, there was a lot of importance given to a Test series. Players used to take ample rest before that. Now we see so many injuries during the season,” Pujara told PTI. 

“If you look India, Australia, England, the pool of players will be not more than 20-25 whereas if you talk about 10 years ago, India used to have 30-50 players who were ready for Test cricket. I am not saying there are no players available. But if they are ready for Test cricket or not, that is the question.” Over the past 24 months, India have lost Test series in England, South Africa and New Z ealand. Pujara said the batsmen’s shot selection could have been better in New Zealand where they were completely outplayed,” he explained.

Series against Australia Down Under important: Cheteshwar Pujara

Though India lost the series to New Zealand, Pujara feel the series Down Under will be important for the side. India had recorded historic Test series win over Australia last year but it came in absence of their premier batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner.

Pujara feels even though the duo are back, India can win if they replicate their performance from last year Down Under.

“It is one of the most important series for us,” the Saurashtra batsman said. 

“They (Smith and Warner) are important players but if we played the way we played in the last series, we should be able to beat them. Fast bowlers have to be fresh and ready for that series and I am sure their workload will be managed. Best part about the tour is that we recently played in Australia (2018-19). I feel that is the biggest advantage for us,” he added.