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Xtra Time Web Desk: Life can be so cruel for Cheteshwar Pujara. The dependable No 3 batsman of Team India has been the target for India’s dismal show in the recently concluded ICC World Test Championship Final against New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. There has been multiple reports that the Indian team management is mulling the idea of dropping Pujara for the important five match test series against England which gets underway at Nottingham from August 04.

Pujara’s inability to score quickly has led the team management to rethink about his place in the playing XI. The major drawback against the Sourashtra batsman is his failure to get things moving. Indian captain Virat Kohli did stressed on the importance of batsman finding ways to score runs.

“The mindset has to be to score runs and find ways to score runs. You can't be too worried about getting out because you're bringing the bowler into the game completely and not moving the game forward,” said Kohli during his post match conference.

He went on to add, “The idea from here on will be to try to score runs and not worry about getting out in testing conditions. That's the only way you can score and put the opposition under pressure, otherwise you're just literally standing there hoping that you don't get out and eventually you will because you're not being optimistic enough, and I think you have to take more risks and calculated risks.” 

Talking about the immediate solution, the Indian team management is planning to include either KL Rahul or Hanuma Vihari in Pujara’s place. Kohli himself can promote himself at No 3 like he normally bats in the shorter formats.

Pujara’s ultra-defensive approach is not proving beneficial for the team.Talking about his last three series that is since 2020, he has averaged 26.35 compared to his 49.48 earlier, and too without any tons under his belt. Until 2019, his strike rate used to be 46.49 which has further dropped to 30.20. The only substantial innings in recent times have come when he scored 77 against Australia in Sydney.

He hasn’t been able to get even one century in the last 30 innings. His sheer defensive tactics also give the opposition more time to bounce back. He has also gathered 9 single-digit scores since his last century. These dismal statistics have influenced the team management to rethink their strategy in the longer format.