Gavaskar sees no reason as to why Pujara should not be included in India’s limited overs squad
India batting great Sunil Gavaskar believes that the national selectors should consider giving batsman Cheteshwar Pujara a spot on the limited overs squad since he has been the most consistent Indian batsman throughout the Test series against England.
Gavaskar noted that Pujara has a lot of talent and is more of a classic strokeplay batsman than a big-hitter like a lot of batsmen playing in the limited overs format today.
“Something that certainly can be given a try, because he has got the basics right. If you have the basics right then expanding your shot-making capabilities is not so much of a problem,” Gavaskar said during an exclusive interview with NDTV.
When asked why Pujara may prefer playing shots along the ground instead of taking the aerial route like opening batsmanVirender Sehwag so often does, Gavaskar said: “You have the licence to play lot more shots in the limited overs cricket than in Test cricket. It is just a matter of confidence. He has been in the IPL teams… he hasn’t really got an opening. Even there he bats down the order, where he has got to come in and start hitting the ball in the air soon enough. That is not something that he is comfortable with, what he showed by hitting the ball down the ground and getting boundaries, he can also score at a fast pace.”
The Indian legend also stated that both captains would be looking to bat first during the fourth Test at Nagpur.
“Indian pitches are generally very-very good to bat on the first couple of days, then they sort of slow-down and have a bit of spin. Sometimes the ball keeps low. So you win the toss and you bat first,” Gavaskar added. “You have the opportunity to put up a decent total on the board and India did more than decent. They scored more than 500 runs. Batting first becomes an important aspect on Indian pitches.”
However, Gavaskar believes that England’s bowlers still haven’t fully got to grips with the SG ball that is being used during matches.
“England bowlers are perhaps not used to bowling with the SG ball and that is one of the reasons they were not able to get the contrast swing which Umesh Yadav and Zaheer Khan were able to get,” Gavaskar said. “Zaheer and Umesh were bowling a much fuller length while the English bowlers were bowling just short of length than they are used to in England or on Australian surfaces. If you want to succeed as a bowler in India you got to bowl a much fuller length. You got to get the batsman committed on the front-foot, committed into playing attacking shots. That is where you can get wickets.”