Hanuma Vihari, the main man in India's successive Test series wins in Australia, credits much of those triumphs to Cheteshwar Pujara and says he cannot help but worry about the experienced batsman leaving India when the next Border-Gavaskar Trophy comes around. Pujara has been an essential part of India's winning streak, amassing 521 runs in 2018-19 and 271 runs in 2020-21. He was the leading run-scorer in the series, facing an impressive 1,258 balls-wearing down the formidable Australian bowling lineup, which included Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc.
Who Will Fill Pujara's Void?
With Pujara out of favor, Vihari wondered who would do the important job of holding together the batting order of India in the five-match Test series that commences on November 22 in Perth. At Brisbane in the fourth Test last year, Pujara withstood numerous blows to his body when his innings lasted 211 balls, giving opportunities to batsmen like Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, who kept battering to his right to Ajinkya Rahane.
But, for Vihari, the huge gap into the innings when Pujara was away with his vast experience and the way he kept exhausting the opposing bowling line-up somehow means a huge gap when he is absent, all the more so with the Indian team eyeing a hat-trick of series victories in Australia.
Also Read: Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Why Did Zaheer Khan Choose Akash Deep For 5-Match Test Series?
Backbone Of India's Batting: Vihari On Cheteshwar Pujara
"Pujara will a big miss. he was the backbone of the batting line-up in the last two series for Team India. He took blows, he batted time, he stayed there for a long time, he saw the new ball, he got runs. He made the job easier for the other batters coming in," Vihari told PTI in an interaction with JioCinema.
"So that kind of role... who will play is a question mark for me. Currently I would say we have an attacking mode of a batting line up (the top six). All like to play their shots. Virat is the only one I feel in that batting line up who can be like a glue to the other batters.
"He can stay on and bat the most number of overs and you know batting in Australia is all about time. If you see off the new ball, it gets a little easier with the older Kookaburra ball," said Vihari
KL Rahul's Role Very Crucial
According to Vihari, Kl Rahul should be at number six, while Rishabh Pant would be on number five. He named Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill as top four.
"That's where KL Rahul's role also will be important because he is someone who's got the experience in playing in SENA countries and he can bat long. He has done well in SENA countries. I feel they are looking at KL Rahul at number 6 as well.
"By playing Rahul ahead of Sarfaraz in the current series (against Bangladesh), they are looking at a bigger picture. They want experience in number 6 when we tour Australia.
"Because in Australia playing at 6 you need to have good technique whether it's facing the second new ball or batting after an early collapse," he said.
Cheteshwar Pujara has 7195 runs in 103 matches this includes 19 centuries and 35 half centuries.
Team India will be playing 5-match Test series, the prestigious Border-Gavaskar Trophy which will be starting November 22.