Average Of 29.7 In 28 Test Matches: Below-Par Returns Since 2020 Might Force India To Move On From Pujara

Team India's top order has struggled in the last few years not just in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries but at home as well. Apart from one or two innings of note by each one of them, how consistently they have been inconsistent is just staggering and that has led to India faltering in crucial matches. Last year too, in the rescheduled Test match against England, Rishabh Pant's 149 saved the day along with Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin saved Team India's face in Bangladesh from suffering an embarrassing loss.

In the home series against Australia in February-March too, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli all played one innings of note each while KL Rahul was absolutely poor before he was dropped. Now, in the one-off Test, the World Test Championship (WTC) final too, the top order failed in the first innings before Ajinkya Rahane, Jadeja and Shardul Thakur came to the rescue.

With the Test mace on the line, in the fourth innings skipper Rohit got the start but failed to convert, Gill got out cheaply yet again and Pujara too gave up a good start. Despite all the runs he has scored for Sussex in the last two seasons in the County Championship, Pujara has flattered to deceive at the highest level, in the only format he plays for India.

Since 2020, in the last four years, Pujara has aggregated 163, 702, 409 and 181 runs in Test cricket. Pujara has scored 1455 runs in 52 innings at an average of 29.7. In the Border-Gavaskar trophy, Pujara's highest score was 59 in six innings and 41 runs in two innings in the WTC final doesn't make for a good look, given how successful he has been against Australia. For a batter, who plays at No. 3 and just one format, the numbers leave too much to be desired from a player like Pujara's calibre and despite all the noise around his County stint and the mountains of runs he has scored, it has counted for not much at the highest level.

With a new WTC cycle set to commence for India in July against the West Indies, there might be a few significant changes in the line-up, especially in the batting order and the team management could take difficult decisions despite their policy of providing the players with the security of their place in the side.