Pujara could succeed in ODIs too - Dravid

[rkt.india]

Former India captain Rahul Dravid has said Cheteshwar Pujara, who succeeded him at No. 3 in India's Test side, could have what it takes to perform in ODIs as well. He was speaking at 'A Day with Dravid', an ESPNcricinfo event in which nine cricket fans got the chance to interact with him from across the world. Pujara has an average of 65 after 13 Tests, having scored four hundreds and three half-centuries, and has drawn comparisons with Dravid. He hasn't made his ODI debut yet, but in 61 domestic one-day matches Pujara averages 56.97, with eight hundreds and 17 fifties. "He's had a great start to his international career, in fact a much better start than I did," Dravid said. "I think he has been brought up in the old school of batsmanship. He is developing more shots and he approaches Test cricket in the same way as I did. "He's got some good basics in place," Dravid said. "You can see that he is constantly improving and he is someone who will find answers to questions. He is going to have his ups and downs and face a lot of challenges adapting to different forms of the game and conditions. With his attitude and the way he is going about playing his cricket, I think he will find answers to a lot of these questions and one of them will be one-day cricket." Dravid also said, during the event, that Test cricket needed needed better scheduling, and more matches for all teams, in order to survive. "One thing I'd like to see definitely is scheduling to be a lot better, and the ability for most countries to play a lot more Test cricket," he said. "I'd love to see all the teams get the opportunity to play a lot more cricket against each other. I think it will really see Test cricket come up and improve, and the only way for it to survive is to play it as often as possible." He spoke in length about his desire to perform well abroad when he had started playing international cricket. He played first-class cricket in India for four years before making his Test debut in England, where he scored 95 at Lord's in 1996. "I wanted to do well abroad in conditions that I wasn't used to," he said. "When I was growing up, one of my coaches stressed that you have to do well outside India to be judged a very good player. One of the things I found difficult adjusting to was bounce early on in my international career. "When I went to Australia, South Africa or England for the first time, I would see some of the foreign top-order batsmen leave balls on length. As soon as the ball pitched on a particular area, they would leave it. Indian batsmen's instinct was to play at those balls because if you left those balls in India, they would probably hit the top of off or middle stump. That ability to adjust to that bounce and know which ball to leave instinctively on length, especially early on in your innings, was one of the most difficult adjustments to play." Answering fans' questions on the contemporary game and the changes it has seen over the years, Dravid expressed his admiration for the players who can play the switch hit, but also said he wanted the rule to be fair for the bowlers. "I can't imagine the way some guys pull that off," he said. "When I see someone like a [Kevin] Pietersen or [David] Warner pull it off, you can see the value of the shot like that. If you were to play the switch hit, then the wide rule should change as well. You should allow the bowler to bowl outside the off stump. I think it's an incredibly skilful and difficult shot to play and I'm all for it as long as you give the bowler protection as well."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/626889.html

[Dumbbells]

Worth a try. Not sure he would be a good fielder tho with his bad knees.

[PBN]

Obviously he 'could' succeed in ODIs. Needs to bat up the order though ..most likely open the innings. He's in line to make his debut soon.

[FischerTal]

I would prefer he would not play ODIs. Dodgy knee will keep haunting him.

[SLICKR392]

I would prefer he would not play ODIs. Dodgy knee will keep haunting him.

A must in 2015 WC IMO.

[FischerTal]

A must in 2015 WC IMO.

Im going out on a wild shot here but for me U Chand is more of a requirement. Che might have to come into stabilize innings in case of a quick wicket, but we need someone like Unmukt at the top who can just rip through the first couple of overs. He proved that in the U-19 world cup in Australia

[NareshK]

Pujara can score very quickly too. Unlike some other batsmen, he hits clean shots and also has good defense and temperament which is required in the early part in overseas conditions. For me, he should surely be in our ODI lineup.

[cowboysfan]

I believe Unmukt chand may play in LOIs before pujara,we need openers and Chand needs a good couple of months to get the call.

[GoldenSun]

I hope Pujara can fulfill his talent and become a great cricketer. The guy seems very humble and down to earth from what I've observed and he will hopefully be one of the faces of Indian cricket in the next decade. Even Dravid sees a bit of himself in the way he approaches test cricket.

[adi B]

y6up

[msb1991]

Pujara can score very quickly too. Unlike some other batsmen' date=' he hits clean shots and also has good defense and temperament which is required in the early part in overseas conditions. For me, he should surely be in our ODI lineup.[/quote'] Indeed. Pujara has definitely earned ODI selection. The fact that Pujara is defensive in Test cricket should have precisely 0 impact on what one thinks of his ODI batting. Look at his last three OD knocks, the guy has plenty of ability to score quickly against allegedly some of the the strongest bowlers in India. http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2012/engine/match/574138.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2012/engine/match/574139.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2012/engine/match/574140.html It confuses me that people are holding his excellent Test temperament and technique against him. These are not limitations but things which aid him and will help him to score quickly in difficult conditions. I think he will slot into the Indian ODI batting line up nicely and will become a star batsman there too.

[JaFanatic]

Im going out on a wild shot here but for me U Chand is more of a requirement. Che might have to come into stabilize innings in case of a quick wicket' date=' but we need someone like Unmukt at the top who can just rip through the first couple of overs. He proved that in the U-19 world cup in Australia[/quote'] thats not his game actually he takes time b4 going bang bang like kohli

[Old guy]

thats not his game actually he takes time b4 going bang bang like kohli

Yep he is not a slogger Pujara right now is much much better player then him

[JaFanatic]

Yep he is not a slogger Pujara right now is much much better player then him

but his knee issue worries me

[Old guy]

but his knee issue worries me

But he is a must in side Should work on fitness,not playing Odis is not a solution tbh

[FischerTal]

but his knee issue worries me

he has to get it checked by international expert. i think that he isnt taking his knee seriously. thats why so many times in the test series, Che was sliding into the crease when running

[Detonator]

Yes, he would succeed. I wish he crosses 10K runs in both tests and odi's.

But he is a must in side Should work on fitness,not playing Odis is not a solution tbh

:agree:

[fineleg]

Bump Now pujara will not have chance to acclimatize to SA pitches facing steyn, morkel in odis before actual test series

[GautiMaan]

Guys who have been in the squad forever like Rahane and Rayudu have not even got a game in dead rubbers,not sure where Pujara is in the pecking order

[express bowling]

We should play Pujara in the non-subcontinent ODIs atleast. Missed him big-time today. Don't know why he is not in the picture at all. These ODIs are closer to tests , than to subcontinent ODIs.