Anil Kumble underlines the importance of Cheteshwar Pujara

The current coach of the Indian cricket team, Anil Kumble has underlined the importance of a player like Cheteshwar Pujara in spite of the latter’s dip in form in recent times. The 45-year old took over as the Indian coach a few weeks prior to the West Indies series and was subsequently handed a one-year contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Cheteshwar Pujara is currently going through a poor run in the Test scenario and failed to impress in the recently concluded Test series in the Caribbean. This has also seen Arvind Pujara, the 28-year old’s father come into the picture hurling accusations at Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli.

However, in spite of all this, Kumble said that Pujara was a supremely important player in the grand scheme of things as far as the team was concerned. Anil Kumble, who has Test match tons to his name also went on to add that the number 3 spot in the batting order was perhaps one of the most important spots.

Kumble felt, “With modern cricket, everybody looks at the strike rate rather than what that particular player brings to that table. Pujara is a very important cog in our wheel and when he plays at No. 3, he is a very important player. Yes, there are times when he misses out and Rohit (Sharma) comes in. That’s when we probably feel, we need someone lower down to accelerate. That’s why in one of the Tests in West Indies, he missed out.”

He added, “The one good thing about this team is that all 17 who were in the squad were all available to play and all of them show that intent. If they are playing, they are fine. When they are left out, yes, they are disappointed.”

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“But at the same time, they contribute in whatever way they can. The sword is always hanging on his (Pujara’s) head which is not good. I certainly believe he is a very important player for us and he will play at No. 3, and for us to be successful, he is important to us in the short term and long term as well.“

However, in spite of this, Sanjay Manjrekar, a prominent part of the commentary team on the West Indies tour remains sceptical about Pujara’s performances. Pujara has, however, moved on with his job and is currently batting at the best of his abilities in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, scoring two centuries thus far.

First class form does not count for much when you are playing international cricket. I remain concerned about Pujara in tests.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 11, 2016