It seems that the road in the Test team will come to an end for senior batsman Cheteshwar Pujara after the defeat and his poor show in the WTC Final 2023 against Australia at The Oval.
Despite spending a lot of time in the County Championship and heaping runs there, Pujara failed to put on a formidable performance as he’s known for in the World Test Championship Final, and succumbed to the relentless pressure from the Australian seamers. Pujara managed scores of 14 and 27.
Pujara’s numbers have been really ordinary over the past few years: since the start of 2020, he averages 29 in 28 Tests with 1 century and 11 fifties.
The selectors and the management are expected to move on from Pujara at the start of the new WTC cycle with the series in the West Indies in July.
Here are a couple of options to replace Cheteshwar Pujara and groom a new number 3:
Sarfaraz Khan
It’s about time that India hand Sarfaraz Khan a deserved Test debut after ignoring him for a long time despite his heroics in the red-ball format in domestic cricket. The Mumbai batter has been a prolific run-scorer over the past three Ranji seasons.
He had two consecutive seasons where he piled up over 900 runs. And in Ranji Trophy 2022/23 season, Sarfaraz amassed 556 runs at a gigantic average of 92.
Overall, he averages a mammoth 79 in first-class cricket with 13 centuries in 37 matches. Notably, Sarfaraz has a strike rate of 70 in first-class cricket, in a world from that of Pujara. He could be the new number 3 and play in a different fashion that captain Rohit Sharma endorsed after losing the World Test Championship Final.
Hanuma Vihari
There is a chance that India could recall Hanuma Vihari, who has time and again proven his grit, determination and stoicism in the middle. When Pujara was dropped last year ahead of the Sri Lanka series, it was Hanuma Vihari who was given the number 3 role; there, in 3 innings, he scored 58, 31, and 35. But injury later on meant he was ruled out and Pujara got a call back after his big runs in County cricket.
Vihari has an unexceptional record in his Test career so far: average of 33 in 16 Tests, but he’s played 13 Test away from home in challenging conditions.
One of the heroes of the famous Australia tour in 2020, Vihari could become India’s new rock at number 3, and, if selected, he should be given a long rope.
