Pujara, the blue-collared worker of Indian cricket

Rajkot: It’s lunchtime of the third Test between India and England at the Niranjan Shah stadium in Rajkot. India have somewhat recovered after a stutter to reach 93 for 3 with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja holding fort. 

Two hundred yards away, at the stadium’s practice facility, Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy team is engaged in ‘nets’ in preparation for their crucial seventh-round Ranji Trophy against Manipur at the newly opened Sanosara Cricket Ground. 

One man’s attention in particular oscillated between the game on the main ground and his next domestic assignment. 

He may not have looked it when he was batting at the ‘nets’, after all, Cheteshwar Pujara loves batting, but when he was done, he got rid of his batting gear and approached a small gathering of journalists. 

He hurriedly exchanged pleasantries before asking the more pertinent question. “What’s the score?”

He was informed. 

“Losing three wickets on that pitch for that score is not ideal,” he responded. 

“How’s the pitch?”

He was informed. 

“Typical. Nothing much happens here, there will be some turn later,” said the Saurashtra ace, who who has scored 228 runs in three innings at this venue. 

It also includes a Pujara-esque 124 on the third day of the venue’s opening Test. Against England no less.

As the conversation entered this territory of descriptions of dismissals, and of his knock from five years ago, Pujara chose a brief pause to subtly redirect the conversation. 

He wanted to talk about his next challenge, not about what had once been challenging. 

“I hope we qualify for the knockouts,” he said aloud. Saurashtra are third on the Group A table behind Vidarbha and Haryana with 22 points. They need an outright win, and even then they will only maybe qualify. Pujara looked genuinely concerned. 

There’s every reason to believe he would have been as anxious about Saurashtra’s chances even if he were in the Indian dressing room at the moment because that’s just who Pujara is. 

While this has something to do with his love for the country and his beloved hometown, it’s mostly his uncompromising passion for the sport. It might exit his system more so when these two teams are in question, but all Pujara has to give the sport is everything. 

Even at the felicitation function organised as a tag-along during the naming ceremony of the stadium on Wednesday night, Pujara was left without words as he looked at his journey through the lens of him as a doyen for Saurashtra and as a security blanket for India. 

He thanked everyone involved in his career with a short speech and walked off the dais with his head down. No exaggerated show of gratitude or self-proclamation of greatness. 

See, Pujara is your blue-collared worker who you can call on when the chips are down and expect him to deliver. 

He wasn’t able to do that for India during the 2023 season and he was dropped after the World Test Championship final against Australia. 

Since then, he has played for Sussex in county cricket, played for Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy, and has even turned up for Indian Oil at corporate leagues. 

At a time when the Board of Control for Cricket in India is questioning the commitment of Indian players towards domestic cricket and putting mandates in place, Pujara’s desire is refreshing. 

It is also contextually disheartening because the 36-year-old with over 7000 Test runs is toiling away in the heat, trying to regain his relevance. It’s unlikely that that’s going to happen again, but that’s not going to stop one of the greatest anchors in Indian cricket from doing what he does: bat.