The discussion over Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli’s unbelievably poor run in England refuses to end. And there is a strong reason behind the same, for they have been the lynchpins in the Indian batting over the last couple of years. Here’s a breakdown of the two states of Kohli and Pujara’s Test careers – the amazing rise and the sensational slide in England.
Pujara: TheIndian number three made his debut against Australia at Bangalore in December 2010. He made 4 and a match-winning 72 in the second innings. He played two Tests in South Africa in 2010/11, but managed a total of only 31 runs. Pujara’s first hundred came against New Zealand at Hyderabad in August 2012 – he made 159. In the home series against England the same year, he was in great form. He made 206 not out and 41 not out at Ahmedabad in November 2012. At Mumbai, he made 135 and 6. He went off the boil in the next two Test with scores of 16 8 and 26.
Pujara roared back with knocks against Australia. He made 204 at Hyderabad in March 2013 and contributed 52 and 82 not out at Delhi. Against West Indies, he added 113 in the second Test at Mumbai in November 2013. Pujara’s big Test was going to come in South Africa, and he passed with flying colours. He made 25 and 153 at Johannesburg in December 2013, and 70 and 32 at Durban in the second Test. Starting with the New Zealand series, it has been a case of not converting starts for Pujara. He made 1, 23, 19 and 17 in the two Tests at Auckland and Wellington. In England, he has been dismissed in single figures just twice, but has crossed fifty only once.
Kohli: He had a poor start to his Test career, managing a highest score of 30 in the three-Test series in West Indies in June-July 2011. He got fifties in both innings in the Test against the same opponent at Mumbai in November 2011. However, he was tested to the hilt in Australia. At Melbourne, he made 11 and 0. In the New Year Test at Sydney, he made 23 and 9. At Perth, he contributed 44 and 75, which gave him confidence. Finally, at Adelaide, he got his maiden Test hundred with 116 and 22.
Since the Australia series, Kohli hit peak form. He made 58 against New Zealand at Hyderabad, and 103 and 51 not out versus the same opponent at Bangalore. Kohli failed in the first three Tests against England at home, but finished the series with a hard-fought 103 at Nagpur. Kohli made 107 against Australia at Chennai, and contributed 67 not out and 34 at Mohali. The South African series was going to be his massive Test though. Some critics expected him to suffer, but he made 119 and 96 at Johannesburg. He added an unbeaten 105 at Wellington as well against the New Zealanders.
Unfortunately, in spite of great expectations, things have completely fallen apart for him in England. His scores in the eight knocks have been 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0 and 7 – that says the complete story, doesn’t it?
--By A Cricket Analyst
