Good Form in Test Cricket Can Help You Do Well in Shorter Formats - Pujara

Sourav Ganguly once remarked, “A good Test player will always do well in the shorter forms of the game but the vice-versa of the same might not be true”. Yes, this statement comes with exceptions but it is true for most of the cases. Cheteshwar Pujara scored a brilliant knock 61-ball 100 in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy against the Railways.

In fact, this was Pujara’s first T20 hundred in his career. Pujara believes this hundred might be a bolt from the blue for others, but he knew that it always on the cards. The talisman batsman is in top form in the red ball version and he was able to carry the same to the shortest format of the game. Pujara believes good form in Test cricket has helped him to do well in the T20 cricket.

Pujara is in form.

Pujara scored 15 fours and one six in his blistering innings to help Saurashtra post a par score 188 in their allotted 20 overs in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Yes, Pujara’s knock was like a classical dancer doing hip hop.

“Good form in Test cricket can help you bat well in shorter formats. It helps you get into good positions, you pick the ball early so I am really happy. Although it came in a defeat, but it was a close game where Railways needed 12 off the last over and they pulled it off,” Pujara said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo.

Pujara is in sublime form as he was the hero of tour Down Under. The talisman batsman was the major difference between the two sides. Pujara was the leading run-getter as he scored 521 runs and faced 1258 runs to suck out every ounce of energy of the Australian bowlers. Consequently, he was awarded the Man of the series award.

Pujara is seeing the ball like a football.

He further added, “If I am able to pick the ball early, I am seeing the ball well. Even in Test cricket, like in Adelaide where I was batting with the tail and had to accelerate, I had to play strokes like the pull, upper cut or go over the top, I was able to do that. It is very tough to do that in Test cricket. But after that when you play against the white ball, which does not swing much, does not spin much, and also travels further, you have a lot of advantage. You can play through the line. Your confidence level is on the higher side. If you can play some shots against the red ball, then (against the white ball) it is a piece of cake.”

Kane Williamson was the leading run-scorer in IPL 2018.

On the other hand, players like Pujara depend on their technique to get runs. He knows that he cannot afford to alter with his batting technique. Similarly, Pujara gave the example of Kane Williamson who was the leading run-scorer in the previous season of the IPL.

MUST WATCH: @cheteshwar1 becomes first @saucricket player to hit a T20 ?. Take a look at his lightning century in #SyedMushtaqAliTrophy

? https://t.co/dCQoSLuE0K pic.twitter.com/qUAYwbkytO

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 21, 2019

Pujara said, “If you look at his T20 batting, he even got an Orange Cap in the IPL (2018), most of his shots are cricketing shots. That is what I look upto. I like to make runs similarly. If I have to play unorthodox shots, if need be at some stage, then I will work on it if the format requires that. I am not against that, but my success has been with cricketing shots and I will stick to that as long as I can. But if the field set in such a manner that I need to play the paddle or scoop I can do it.”

Pujara has ticked the right boxes in the recent past. The right-hander doesn’t need to pollute his classic approach to get runs in the shorter formats. Pujara is at the top of his game and he has the skills to score runs in any format of the game.