India can be better equipped with their batting resources. When they travel to Australia to defend the World Cup, the batting order needs to have the strength to counter the vagaries of the pitches, which are unlikely to produce totals of over 300 in every game. Historically, we've not had great batting tales Down Under.
There is little doubt that the team needs a batsman with solid technique which can withstand the tensions from the surface in Australia and New Zealand. Not too long ago, we had Rahul Dravid, a proven performer, who survived the ODI test by sheer dint of his technique. Dravid is gone but we've a batsman of similar traits languishing in the sidelines.
Time has come for India to test Cheteswhar Pujara. Pujara sure does not possess the power play of a Rohit, Yuvraj or Raina, but flamboyance cannot be the only way out in the ODIs. Particularly in Australia. South Africa have a certain Hashim Amla, who was one of the highest scorers in ODIs last year. He is more solid than flamboyant.
Pakistan have done well with a player of similar style in Misbah-ul-Haq, and England have a quite a few of those kind starting from Alastair Cook himself. Going for broke is not the only formula for success in the ODIs.
Barring MS Dhoni (66.9, in 22 games) and Virat Kholi (53.2 in 8 games), who have healthy averages Down Under, the other batsmen in the Indian order have averages that can be labelled either average or poor - Raina has 34 (from 13 games), Rohit has 29 (from 17 games), Yuvraj has 26 (from 30 games) and Ravindra Jadeja has 19 (from 8 games). Pujara is an untested commodity in alien conditions but someone like Kiran More believes Pujara's time has come.
"The selectors will have no choice but to have a look-in of Pujara. He has simple, uncomplicated technique that Dravid had. I'm not saying which number he can be fitted into, that is for the selectors to decide. Anyway, we've an issue with No 4 slot," the former chairman of selectors said.
There is a perceptible sense of trepidation in Dhoni's mind to tamper with the current the batting order that has recently won the Champions Trophy in trying conditions of England. But a good captain can be great only if he is open to new ideas. Resilience has never been Dhoni's strength and here comes the role of Sandeep Patil & Co.
The selectors will have to impress upon the captain that they cannot pack the squad with batsmen having suspect technique. Dhoni's petulance vis-avis Pujara is quite inexplicable. He had him in five ODIs against England earlier this year and did not give him a chance. Even after the team had won the series, Pujara was left out in the cold. Dhoni evidently does not have high regard for Pujara's one-day capabilities but so did everyone of Dravid's initially. He went on to score over 10,000 ODI runs.
Pujara should add potency and stability to the batting order. His strike-rate is as much as Rohit Sharma's in the List A games (80.5) but he has proved to be far more consistent with a healthy average of 54.5 as against Rohit's 36. Pujara may be tried out during the three ODIs against the West Indies because a batsman will have to have played over 50 games to be considered for the World Cup.
Raina and Yuvraj are not doing great, averaging 37 and 19 respectively in the last 10 ODIs. The selectors could do well by experimenting with Pujara for a few games.
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