Preparing rank-turners for WTC points at home backfired on India: Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Sunday, August 24. The legendary cricketer would be remembered as one of the most gritty batters in red-ball cricket. He played some marathon innings during his Test career and helped India win many matches.

Under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, India failed to reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this year. The 0-3 series whitewash to New Zealand last year made qualification for the summit clash very difficult for the Indian team. This was the first time they lost a Test series at home in 12 years.

The spin-friendly tracks made life difficult for the batters. Out of 108 wickets that fell across the series, 81 went to spinners. Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner wreaked havoc, finishing with 15 (three matches) and 13 wickets (one match), respectively.

Pujara feels that India played on rank-turners to get as many WTC points as they could from Test matches at home. However, the cricketer-turned-expert opined that the move backfired for them. He urged India to play on sporting pitches where there will be a good contest between bat and ball.

"I thought it had a big impact on Indian batting and Test cricket as a whole. The reason those kinds of tracks were prepared was because of the World Test Championship, where teams wanted results from every game. But I don't think that was ideal for Test cricket," Pujara said in an interview with India Today.

"Going forward, I'm sure the management and everyone involved has realized that when you prepare such surfaces, a batter needs a lot of luck to score runs. Your skills often get taken out of the game, and you're forced to play bravely, looking to score quick 40s, 50s, or 60s-whatever you can manage," Pujara said.

Most teams are playing on better pitches, and I hope India also continues to do so: Pujara

While Pujara doesn't mind India playing on spin-friendly pitches, he said that matches shouldn't end well inside four days.

"I think things are changing now. Most teams are playing on better pitches, and I hope India also continues to do so. I'm not saying the ball shouldn't turn-it should-but matches shouldn't finish in three or three-and-a-half days. Ideally, we should be playing on good pitches where games last into the fourth or fifth day," Pujara added.