'He has lost that' - Dale Steyn highlights the reason behind Cheteshwar Pujara's recent struggle

India’s Mr. Dependable Cheteshwar Pujara had a rare failure with the bat in both the innings of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, which resulted in the team’s eight-wicket loss on June 23 in Southampton.  Now, former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn has made an interesting revelation regarding the right-hand batter’s technique.

Pujara scored 8 and 15 and failed to get going which put pressure on the other batters. Steyn, in particular, spoke about his dismissal in the second innings against Kyle Jamieson, where the batter nicked the ball and offered a simple catch to the slip fielder. Interestingly, the fast bowler has bowled to Pujara a lot of times during the teams’ bi-lateral Test series in 2020.

During their various duals, Steyn observed how India’s number three would watch the ball underneath his eyes and then play his shots. It was the same method that he deployed during the team’s tour to South Africa in 2013. Pujara also scored a majestic 153 and Steyn feels the right-hand batter is missing a few things, which worked for him previously.

“Out of my memory, I just remember Pujara playing great off his legs. Very, very good off his legs, and ball underneath the eyes. But I do remember him playing some magical cut shots and backfoot drives. Maybe on pitches that a little bit quicker – and Indian wickets are not quick – he played some beautiful balls underneath his eyes through the cover. It’s a part of the game that I feel he has lost,” Steyn said on ESPNcricinfo.

Dale Steyn feels Cheteswar Pujara’s dismissal was a soft one

In the context of the situation, Pujara’s wicket kind of triggered a collapse in the second innings. He got his eye in on both the innings as he faced more than 50 balls on both occasions, only to squander the opportunity. Steyn feels the batter needs to be a bit more aggressive and play according to the situation.

“That’s the thing I have seen lacking in Pujara. I’m so used to him rocking onto his backfoot and playing with his hands and good feet movement. He’s kind of lost that part of his game. And if you’re only hanging on the front foot, good bowlers will not bowl half-volleys to you. And you’ve got to turn good balls into good shots. That’s the difference between Test cricket and First-Class cricket. He’s missing out on a lot of runs there,” he reckoned.