Doing it the Che way!

Did you see Cheteshwar Pujara dance? Go to twitter now and check out the video that’s doing the rounds. It’s the most awkward jig you will ever come across but it will definitely bring a smile on your face. Sounds a bit like Pujara’s batting, isn’t it? Awkward and out of sync but the end of the day brings a smile on your face. And we all are grinning, ear to ear. And why not, Australia conquered, finally.

Finally, it’s done and it’s been a long wait. Growing up in the 90s, an overseas Test win was a dream. In the noughties, it became a reality — an Adelaide here, a Leeds there. But a series win in Australia was still a step too far. Virat Kohli and his men have now taken that step and Che Pujara deserves most of the accolades for this fantastic achievement.

In the past few years, Pujara has been a sideshow. To be honest, he has played the supporting cast to Kohli quite brilliantly but it was time he stamped his authority on this Indian team. With three hundreds in the series, the man from Rajkot has done it.

For ages, much has been spoken about the Indian team’s batting order but the focus has always been on two slots — three and four. They are holy. You just don’t get to bat at three and four, you have to earn your stripes. While Kohli’s genius sealed number four with ease, Pujara took his time at three. He had to because if Kohli had humongous shoes to fill at four, Pujara had a wall to build. So it took him longer. With every innings, he put one brick over the other, watered the cement and waited for it to dry — 200 balls, 250 balls, 500 balls. Now, the wall’s up and it’s got new paint on it. It still doesn’t resemble the old one yet but after a couple of more coats, who knows! And there’s no one better than Pujara to be tasked with it because he has the time, the patience and the perseverance.

He has the time because rebuilding the wall is his only job. He’s got no limited overs stress on him and no IPL to worry about. So, it’s his only gig and as of now, he’s doing a damn good job.

However, it wasn’t easy for Pujara. It wasn’t because apart from becoming India’s shield, Pujara also had to fit into the Kohli-Shastri mould. It’s tough for a man like Pujara to pass those yo-yo tests with a set of dodgy knees. It’s tough for him to compete with the sculpted abs of KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. He might have a rock-solid defence but the man’s got no swag — no tattoo-adorned bulging biceps, no fancy haircut, nothing. He’s always been the quintessential good guy in the class who helps you out with the last-minute photocopies of the notes. He wouldn’t top any class but just be there and thereabouts. He was always there to pave the path for Virat Kohli’s greatness.

Not anymore. He’s got a great beard now — thick, cultured, non-frizzy. But with great beard comes great responsibility, so Pujara has finally turned into a badass. He’s still not elegant. His cover drives still don’t have the ‘Kohli crunch’ and his pull lacks the ‘Sharma sense of domination’. His struggle is real so he wields his ‘Che magic’ with his forward defensive blocks.

He still can’t chirp back. So he laughs when Nathan Lyon tries to rile him up. Then, he takes a couple of steps down the track and flicks the Aussie off-spinner through the gap between mid wicket and mid on. And he does that again. And again. And again until Lyon buries his face in his palms. Then he does it once more.

This series, he’s knocked the stuffing out of the Aussies, yet there’s no intelligent sound byte of him on the stump mic. There isn’t because that’s not his game. Che Pujara only bats and bats and bats and keeps batting. He bats until the opponents get tired bored of him. He bats until we get bored of him. Then he bats some more.

Over the years, we all have defied the chill of the Indian winters to get up in the wee hours of the morning hoping for a series win in Australia. We have seen classics. We have seen collapses. We have seen wins. We have seen whitewashes. Now, we have seen a series win. Also, we have witnessed the real coming of Cheteshwar Pujara, the new shield of Indian cricket — shiny, strong, robust.

During the series, Kerry O’Keefe struggled with Indian names. Well, he still may not know how to pronounce Cheteshwar Pujara but he sure as hell will remember the name…all his life.