HomeSportsCricketWTC Final 2023 - IND vs AUS: Cheteshwar Pujara, a big threat...

WTC Final 2023 – IND vs AUS: Cheteshwar Pujara, a big threat for the Aussies

The last match of the World Test Championship will take place between India and Australia on June 7 at The Oval in London. Cheteshwar Pujara is the best-prepared batter from India. While the rest of his colleagues were competing in the Indian Premier League in the sweltering heat and humidity of their native country, the No. 3 player for India has spent the previous two months playing county cricket in England with Sussex.

Pujara acclimated to his new environment very quickly and rapidly found his form, scoring 545 runs over the course of six innings.

Since the 2018–19 tour of Australia, during which he scored 521 runs in seven innings, the right-handed batter has been a formidable adversary for the Australian team. Although he did not score any hundreds during the 2020–21 series, the determined fifties he made assured that India would have the upper hand in Sydney and Brisbane.

In light of the fact that Pujara is already used to the circumstances, it is only natural for the Australians to be apprehensive of him in the WTC final.

Pujara’s experience against dangerous English seamers in the county, including the likes of Ollie Robinson in the Sussex nets, will help him neutralise the threat posed by Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to some degree.

Pile of runs

After the Test series against South Africa in early 2022, Pujara was cut from the team owing to his poor performance and was forced to navigate difficult waters as a result. In order to earn his spot back on the Indian test team, he had to amass 1,094 runs in the County Championship at a monstrous average of 109.40 while making eight appearances in the same year.

In the year 2023, the veteran cricketer continued his dominance in the Test arena and even captained Sussex. The 545 runs that Pujara scored came at an average of 68.12 and included three centuries as well as a fifty.

The surface at The Oval will be favourable to the seamers, but after the first two days, there will be enough for the spinners to work with as well. In the 24 matches played against Australia, Pujara has amassed 2,033 runs and five centuries, so this shouldn’t be a concern for him. He has a career international average of 29.60 in England, with one century and 132 not out against England in Southampton in 2018. He will be eager to improve upon that in England.

Ricky Ponting, who captained Australia in the past, believes that Pujara will be the one to carry India in the series in addition to Virat Kohli. “Pujara has been a significant source of trouble for them in the past as well as in Australia. There is a good chance that this pitch will play a lot more like an Australian pitch. They are aware that they will need to capture him as soon as possible,” he said in The ICC Review.

Batting with Steve Smith

Steve Smith, who is ranked third in the world in terms of test batting, batted with Pujara in the last few games in Sussex. It is possible that this may serve as a significant confidence booster for Pujara, who went between the wickets and even formed a partnership with the Australian superstar during the game that was played against Worcestershire.

Smith only played for the team for a month, scoring 89 runs, but the experience was enough to prepare him for the WTC final. The tour through Sussex will also help pave the way for the Ashes, which are set to take place following the ICC championship.

Since Pujara and Smith had never been on the same side before, Smith’s presence in the country prompted Pujara to make the statement that he would make an effort to get to know his Australian counterpart better. “It is going to be an amazing time. I will make an effort to learn his ideas and get to know him just a little bit better. They will attempt to have a conversation with him and learn from him, simply to see how he prepares given that he has a lot of experience, and they will look forward to having him in the dressing room since he has such a positive impact on the squad.

Since we will be competing against each other in the WTC final, we are likely to have conflicting emotions. “Off the pitch, we are good friends, but on the pitch, we always have good battles,” Pujara told Sussex Cricket. “On the pitch, we always have good battles.”

It’s possible that Smith and Pujara kept a tight eye on one another in Sussex and shared what they learned with the bowlers on their respective national teams before the big test.

The one thing that gives cause for concern is the fact that Pujara has only played in three Test matches at The Oval, where he has scored a maximum of 61 runs, whereas Smith has scored 391 runs at an average of 97.75, with a score of 143 being his highest.

It is reasonable to anticipate that, now that Pujara has become a local guy and drives to the Team India nets, he will smooth out the kinks in his game and perform at full capacity.

In the championship match of the first World Table Tennis Championship in 2021, New Zealand prevailed against India. India is going to be very interested in changing the tide.

Aryan Jakhar
Aryan Jakhar
Aryan Jakhar is an Indian Journalist with over two years of active working experience. Aryan is currently working as editor-in-chief at BusinessHeadline.in and he is reachable on contact@businessheadline.in
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