New Delhi: Cheteshwar Puajara, touted as a replacement of 'the Wall' Rahul Dravid, has been missing too many chances to play big knocks in Test cricket, of late.
On Day 3 of the third Test against Australia, the Saurashtra batsman once again disappointed with the bat. When India resume their innings on Sunday morning, he didn't trouble the scorers much and got out of the second ball of the day – on his overnight score of 25.
Yesterday, he and Murali Vijay were looking solid in the middle as they took the tourists to 108 for one in reply to Australia's 530. But the number three, once again missed the opportunity. He has been getting the starts but found missing out the opportunities to convert them into hundreds.
During the last England tour too, he faced the same issue. He was looking good in the middle but a possible loss in focus and concentration costed him and India dearly.
In the on-going four-match series against Australia, he is struggling with the same issue. Thus far in the series, his scores read 73, 21, 18,43, 25 in five innings. But the temperament he is known for is certainly missing.
The right-hander still maintains a decent average of 48.26 after playing 26 Tests. But he needs to understand that he is capable of scoring big Test hundreds.
Where other Indian top order batsmen like Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay have started converting their starts into big knocks, the 26-year-old is somewhere losing the opportunities.
Though, on occasions he got unlucky, with wrong call from umpires, but at the moment he is not matching the high standards he has set for himself. It's high time he pulls up his socks and plays some big knocks, especially outside the sub-continent.
