Virat Kohli ranks Cheteshwar Pujara's first innings century as priceless

He was facing uncertainty about his place in the Test side even a few months ago. Despite heading to England much before the beginning of the Test series to get necessary practice, he did not find a place in the first game. But for Cheteshwar Pujara, it was only a matter of time for him to hit back to the detractors who felt the man never played shots while batting. It was yet another first Test of an away series and the 30-year-old batsman made his presence felt, more than anybody else in the team, to help it finish the best in the contest.

Pujara scored 123 and 71 at Adelaide Oval to help India secure a 31-run win and go 1-0 up in the four-match series which is no less than a historic feat for the Indians Down Under. And when asked about it in the post-match conference, Pujara’s captain Virat Kohli had only one word in his reaction: “Priceless”. It is not often seen that some other batsman has eclipsed Kohli in the game but it was one of those rare days when the latter was seen eulogising a colleague with an adjective that is generally attached to his own game.

Pujara’s performance in the match brought alive the memory of Rahul Dravid’s game at the same venue in the tour of 2003-04. Dravid had scored a double century and a 70-plus innings in the match to help India win by 4 wickets and take a 1-0 lead. Man of the match in the Adelaide Test, Pujara, for the first time, picked up a century and fifty in the same Test match.

Pujara revived Dravid memory at the same ground in 2003-04

What made Cheteshwar Pujara’s 16th Test ton special is the way it engineered India’s comeback into the game. After getting reduced to 41 for 4 and then 86 for 5, it required a lion heart for somebody in the Indian side to script a turnaround and eventually turn the tables on the opponents.

“We were down and out at lunch on day one. His belief, grit and determination kept us in the game, he brought us back beautifully. The game was poised equally on day two. We knew runs on the board, their position playing at home, they’ll obviously be a bit tentative and we cashed in on that.

“Any lead would have been gold and we built on that (with) a couple of partnerships in the second innings, particularly Pujara and Rahane. When they bat together like that they are our most solid pair. They gave us that safety for the bowlers to go out and get ten wickets. It took grit and determination from both of them to put us past Australia where it was hard for them to chase that total down,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

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