Cheteshwar Pujara reveals big reason why India failed to reach WTC final
Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara said that India’s strategy to prepare spin-friendly tracks in the home Test series against New Zealand backfired as it led to losing their spot in the World Test Championship final. Last year in October and November, India hosted New Zealand for a three-match home Test series. New Zealand stunned India with a phenomenal performance, inflicting a 3-0 whitewash over the hosts. It was the first time India lost a Test series at home in 12 years. Not only did they lose the series, but it also massively affected their position in the World Test Championship standings.
Pujara reckoned that India did the wrong thing to prepare tracks that offered huge amount of turn for the spinners. He also revealed that the reason behind preparing those kinds of tracks was to get the World Test Championship points, but that move backfired. Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner made life difficult for the hosts as they couldn’t win a single match in the Test series.
"I thought it had a big impact on Indian batting and Test cricket as a whole. The reason those kinds of tracks were prepared was because of the World Test Championship, where teams wanted results from every game. But I don't think that was ideal for Test cricket," Pujara said in an interview with India Today.
"Going forward, I'm sure the management and everyone involved have realized that when you prepare such surfaces, a batter needs a lot of luck to score runs. Your skills often get taken out of the game, and you're forced to play bravely, looking to score quick 40s, 50s, or 60s-whatever you can manage," Pujara said.
Cheteshwar Pujara announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket on 24th August
Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara called time on all forms of Indian cricket on Sunday. He made the announcement through a heartfelt post on his social media handle. Cheteshwar Pujara represented India in 103 Tests and five one-day internationals. He is counted among the greatest batters in Test cricket history. His ability to play for long periods and tire the opposition bowlers out was second to none.
Even on tough tracks outside India, Cheteshwar Pujara often batted for hours and denied the opposition bowlers his wicket too easily. In 103 Tests, he scored 7195 runs at an average of 43.60. In his Test cricket, he scored 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries. He scored five centuries each against Australia and England and four against South Africa.
