Sanjay Manjrekar feels that India still need the services of Cheteshwar Pujara in the Test set-up as he gives his best for the team in the toughest of situations. Pujara, who has been going through a lean patch in Tests, returned to form against Bangladesh with big scores in both innings. The talismanic batter missed out on a century in the first innings and was dismissed on 91 but played a counter-attacking knock in the second to reach the triple-figure mark.
Pujara once again displayed his grit and resilience in the opening Test as he held his ground strong when India was struggling to get going in the first innings. While it was a completely contrasting knock in the second innings as he registered his fastest Test hundred, off 130 deliveries. The 34-year-old scored an unbeaten 110 with the help of 13 boundaries.
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Manjrekar said that the recent Test forms of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli make Pujara even more important in the XI as he stood tall against stronger oppositions in crucial situations.
“It’s Cheteshwar Pujara, that’s how he is. Come what may, whatever the odds are, he will go out and give his very best. Indian Test batting still needs Pujara. You saw the form of KL Rahul, you saw the form of Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill, fortunately, got a big one in the 2nd innings. But against stronger oppositions, especially when going away from India (you need him),” Manjrekar told Sony Sports.
Manjrekar emphasized that India dropped Pujara for the Test series against Sri Lanka but they had to recall him for the Edgbaston Test against England after his impressive show in County Cricket which suggested that they have not found an ideal replacement for him.
“They had to call him back, after he was not picked for the home series (against Sri Lanka), they had to call him back for that one-off Test.
“So this was again a reminder that Indian cricket has not reached that stage where they can dispense with somebody like Pujara. They need that Pujara glue to hold the innings together,” he added.
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The veteran batter also talked about the possibility of moving opener Shubman Gill to the number 3 spot.
“It’s all about current form. When Virat Kohli gets to the top of his game, when Rohit Sharma is back and getting back to some form and KL Rahul becomes more consistent, when all those batters are doing well, may be then you can think of looking beyond Pujara and may be give Shubman Gill opportunities at No. 3 in the future. For the moment, you will see, if Rohit comes back, there is no way India are going to leave out Pujara,” he added.
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