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Business News/ News / Business Of Life/  Cricket | One for the future
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Cricket | One for the future

Will the Pujara-Kohli partnership at No.3 and No.4 weave the same magic as the Dravid-Tendulkar one?

Can Virat Kohli (left) and Cheteshwar Pujara replace the two celebrated stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, in the batting line-up for Test matches? Photo: Themba Hadebe/APPremium
Can Virat Kohli (left) and Cheteshwar Pujara replace the two celebrated stalwarts, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, in the batting line-up for Test matches? Photo: Themba Hadebe/AP

OTHERS :

Durban: In his 164 Tests for India, Rahul Dravid batted at No.3 in 136 matches. In those 219 innings (of the total 286 he played), he was run out only eight times (13 times overall). On six of those occasions, Sachin Tendulkar batted at No.4. Yet he was never involved in a mix-up with Dravid, who was run out either before or after his dismissal.

If Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli are the new No.3 and No.4, respectively, of the Indian cricket batting line-up, they couldn’t have asked for a bigger differentiator than in the first Test against South Africa last week in Johannesburg.

In the first innings, after skipper M.S. Dhoni bravely decided to bat first, the two were involved in an 89-run partnership for the third wicket. They looked comfortable. Pujara was sedate, using up as many overs as possible, blunting the attack. Kohli was immaculate, leaving any delivery outside the off stump, playing only if it was aimed at his stumps. He played “Tendulkar" to his partner’s “Dravid", or at least it seemed so, as the runs flowed and South Africa got frustrated.

Then Imran Tahir bowled the 43rd over. Kohli tucked one towards midwicket and set off, changing his mind after taking two steps. Pujara, meanwhile, was halfway down the pitch, with no means to get back. He was duly run out. Kohli was devastated. He bent down, staring at his shoes, almost wanting to smack his bat in anger. But he didn’t. Maybe he cursed, like he often does, maybe he shouted at himself without letting anyone know. Then he gathered himself and smacked his first-ever international hundred in South Africa.

“It is not easy to come out of something like that quickly," Kohli said, after stroking a wonderful 119 off 181 balls in his first essay at No.4. “But I knew I had to, because I had to bat on for the team. I had to double my score for us to be in a strong position."

He was on 65 at that time, doing what he thought needed to be done. It was a pivotal moment, not only in the context of this particular Test match, but also in the grand scheme of things. In the last one year or so, this trip to South Africa has been ever-present on the horizon, even as Tendulkar, Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman bid farewell. There were questions, nay doubts, about this Indian team coping, not only against the Proteas now, but forevermore. Somebody needed to make a mark, and he did.

More so, because Kohli was targeted ever since he landed here. South Africa quickly identified that he has been India’s best batsman across all formats for two years running. And Dale Steyn was charged up whenever he bowled to his “good" friend. Then there were teasers, comments about being scarred from the One Day International (ODI) series loss and bouncy pitches. Kohli had been hit by a Morne Morkel delivery in the first ODI match of the tour at Johannesburg and was later seen sporting an ice-pack on his ribs.

A reply was forthcoming. In the 26th over of the first innings, as the batsman was beaten by late outswing, Steyn stared down at Kohli, nearly mouthing off. The batsman looked away, steady in his first appearance at this batting spot. He then calmly deposited Steyn to fine leg for a four, much like the man whose legendary old boots he was filling.

“Apparently I was pretty soft after the first ODI," he said, smiling. “I always knew I had the game and the technique to do well in South Africa. Even during the home series against Australia and West Indies, I was only thinking about this tour. All my training sessions were designed to succeed here. It is very satisfying that I came up the order. A lot was expected out of me, to block that and focus on my plan, getting a hundred is very pleasing."

He did more, scoring another 96 runs in the second innings and nearly becoming the first Indian batsman at No.4 to get two hundreds in the same Test. With 215 runs in this match, he put all other Indian batsmen to shade, well almost. For Pujara had a few plans of his own.

While this was Kohli’s first Test outing in South Africa, Pujara has been here before, in 2010-11. In two Tests back then, he scored 31 runs, a paltry effort given his penchant for big runs. While he looked set for a longer knock in the first innings, he could only realize it in the second attempt. Even so, Pujara’s 153 runs had a certain belligerence about them. He scored only seven runs off the first 51 balls he faced in that innings, and then his next 93 runs came in 117 balls as he found a fourth gear unlike many a Dravid innings. The final session on Day 3, while Kohli and Pujara put on 222 runs for the third wicket, yielded 175 runs in 38 overs at a staggering run-rate of 4.6 runs per over.

“The thing about this Indian tour to South Africa was whether this young batting line-up could match up to the bowling in these conditions. Could they stand up and deliver the power of the older generation? Yes, they did—two of them actually. Kohli and Pujara put their hands up. It is a very healthy sign for the future," says former South African captain Shaun Pollock.

That is an assurance for the long term. Batting together for the first time as designate No.3 and No.4, they left their own mark at Johannesburg. With Pujara run out in the first innings, thanks to Kohli’s howler, and the former nearly getting run out on a couple of occasions in the second innings, it made sure that any comparisons with the past died a premature death.

In the short term, the Kohli-Pujara partnership has given momentum to the Indian team going into the second Test at Durban, starting today. Ahead of the match, when asked if there was anything they needed to work upon, Pujara smiled, and said: “No, we had two perfect partnerships. We just need to keep going and repeat it in this Test."

Chetan Narula is the author ofSkipper: A Definitive Account of India’s Greatest Captains.

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Published: 25 Dec 2013, 08:17 PM IST
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