3 Homegrown cricketers who can take Cheteshwar Pujara’s place as India’s “wall” following the World Cup Final: Over the years, Cheteshwar Pujara has established himself as a dependable backstop for the Indian Test batting squad, but his shot selection in the WTC final against Australia—which India lost by a score of 209 runs—left much to be wanted.
Pujara made promising beginnings in 14 and 27, but he was unable to turn those performances into significant contributions that may have challenged the Australians at The Oval in London.
The way he gave up his wickets, shouldering arms to an oncoming delivery in the first innings before upper-cutting a short delivery to the wicket-keeper in the second, was disappointing.
There is a good probability that the Indian selectors will make a few difficult decisions given his long history of format inconsistencies and the fact that a new WTC cycle will begin with the West Indies tour next month.
Finding another “wall” will not be an easy challenge, but Pujara could be in danger considering that he has been this batting lineup’s rock since Rahul Dravid’s retirement in 2012.
In light of this, we examine three batting options India may take into account as a potential replacement for him following the WTC Final:
1 Hanuma Vihari
Hanuma Vihari, who was conceivably seen as Pujara’s successor as the next wall in Indian cricket, may feel that he was unjustly passed up.
He was the hero of the infamous Sydney draw in 2021, and like Pujara, he is known for grinding out extended innings rather than attacking the opposition.
For India, Vihari has played a variety of roles, including the opener in Melbourne in 2018. Given his propensity to hold the crease for extended periods of time, he can undoubtedly blunt the new ball and enable the batters at the other end to keep the scoreboard moving.
In the postponed fifth Test against England in Birmingham last year, he was ineffective after a respectable performance against Sri Lanka at home.
After being dropped, you’d think it was time for the selectors to take advantage of his expertise in playing Test cricket for the West Indies as well as SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries.
2 Baba Indrajith
In the postponed fifth Test against England in Birmingham last year, he was ineffective after a respectable performance against Sri Lanka at home.
After being dropped, you’d think it was time for the selectors to take advantage of his expertise in playing Test cricket for the West Indies as well as SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries.
Year after year, he turns up and delivers for his side, even as Tamil Nadu hasn’t gone the distance in the Ranji Trophy. He was a surprising exclusion from the India A setup that was summoned to tour Bangladesh but with all that experience under his belt and a decent future, the time is ripe to give him an opportunity.
Much like Pujara, Indrajith is used to batting at number 3. If the selectors are keen to try out other options post the WTC final, he’s certainly not a bad option to look at.
3 Abhimanyu Easwaran
It is confusing how Abhimanyu Easwaran has yet to receive any international cricket experience. One would have assumed the opener should have played a Test or at the very least be a regular in the squad by now after amassing truckloads of runs for Bengal and India A in domestic cricket.
After captain Rohit Sharma was forced to withdraw due to injury in December of last year, he was called up for the trip to Bangladesh. But following that, he was not selected for either the Border-Gavaskar Trophy team or the WTC final reserves.
His accomplishments in first-class cricket, which include 26 half-centuries and 22 hundred in addition to an average of just under 48, do not require any explanation.
Easwaran may be an opener, but the stability he provides and his capacity for long innings could make him a potential Pujara alternative in the near future.
One can assume that now is the appropriate moment to start the transition and integrate him into the senior setup.
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