Cheteshwar Pujara remains one of the most difficult conundrums for IPL owners and coaches

Sample this scenario:

India are struggling at 20/3 in a Test match. Cheteshwar Pujara is at the crease. Here is a man who holds the record for most runs in India’s domestic season. Will an Indian fan be worried?

Now let’s change the scenario a little:

India are struggling at 20/3 in a T20 match. Pujara is at the crease. Here is a man who hasn’t played a single T20 international. How will an Indian fan react?

These two scenarios, in short, tell us why Pujara remains one of the most difficult conundrums for the IPL owners and coaches.

On current form, Pujara can’t be kept out of any team in the longer format of the game. He just broke the record for most runs in an Indian first-class season, with a half-century in both innings of the one-off Test against Bangladesh, was the second-highest run scorer for India in the series against England, and the top-scorer against New Zealand before that.

But his limited-overs career is diametrically opposite. He has played only five ODIs and no T20Is for India, and while he has had decent returns at the List A level, he is not considered to be nearly as prolific in the shorter versions of the game.

Pujara’s contrasting fortunes come down to two things – perception and performance. A large part of his success has come in the longer version, where his style of craftsmanship batting has paid rich dividends. At the same time, he hasn’t done much in the few chances that have come his way in the limited overs to stamp his credentials with some authority.

With the way the Indian ODI and T20 teams have performed in the recent past, it will be almost impossible for Pujara to make his place in the team studded with hard-hitting, flourishing batsman.

But the IPL is a different story. Theoretically, Pujara can still be part of the T20 scheme of things. However, he is also the only frontline Indian international batsman without a regular IPL contract. But with the IPL auctions coming up on February 20, he will certainly be hoping to be picked by one of the eight franchises.

“I definitely want to make a mark in that particular format. I have done well in T20 matches. I played in DY Patil T20 tournament and got a hundred and two fifties. I am very confident that I can play well in other formats of the game,” Pujara had said after leading Rest of India (ROI) to victory in the Irani Cup.

However, Pujara’s IPL numbers are hardly worth celebrating – 390 runs in 30 matches at an average of 20.52 isn’t much as compared to his contemporaries. His strike rate of 99.74 doesn’t help much either, at a time where batsmen score in excess of 150. But in his limited IPL stints over three teams – Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab – he also hasn’t had many opportunities to make a mark.

It can’t be denied that Pujara has been a handy limited overs batsman on the domestic circuit. In 82 List A matches, Pujara has a healthy average of 54.12. In domestic T20s, he averages 25.48 in 58 games, with a strike rate of 105. In the recently concluded DY Patil Tournament, Pujara, playing for Indian Oil, was the fifth-highest run-getter with 183 runs, with a highest score of 108, at a strike rate of 125.

But the domestic numbers don’t count for much when the perception has been built on an international level.

Pujara certainly believes these presumptions can and will change. “I am very hopeful that perception will go soon. I have got a T20 hundred in a DY Patil Tournament. Probably I am batting freely, I have added a few shots to my game, which is helping me. Even in Test format, the way I am striking the ball, the way I have been batting in the last few series, I have changed my game, which is helping me in T20 and one-day game. In near future I think things will change,” he was quoted as saying.

But fact remains that Pujara went unsold in the 2016 auction. Back then, it was expected that Gujarat Lions, the new franchise based in his hometown Rajkot, would pick him up. But that was not to be and he was understandably disappointed. “It’s something I can’t do much about. I thought one of the franchises would pick me. But, even Gujarat didn’t,” the 28-year-old told The Hindu .

He had cited the his run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali then, when the Saurashtra batsman had scored 232 runs in six matches with three half-centuries.

“I had a decent run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. We (Saurashtra) missed out on a place in the knockout round only because of a slightly poor run-rate. But I did well,” he had said.

Pujara hasn’t played much T20 this season, but has been in a rich vein of form and it would seem to the 29-year-old batsman, and his fans, that he has a good shot at getting an IPL contract. If his unbeaten 54 off 58 balls at a strike rate of 93.10 in the second innings against Bangladesh when quick runs was the need of the hour to set the visitors a daunting total is any indication, Pujara has taken the advice of upping his strike rate seriously.

Will he get another shot at IPL?

Whether that would be enough to convince the franchises is another question.

It’s an established fact that Pujara’s IPL track record isn’t great. He hasn’t played an IPL game since 2014. In the editions before that, he didn’t do much with the bat. In 2011, he picked a serious knee injury while fielding that put him out of action for months.

It is also an established fact that IPL auction buys are all about value for money, not as much about track record or international success. At last year’s auctions, Delhi Daredevils and Pune Supergiants went into a bidding war for uncapped all-rounder Pawan Negi, who was bought by Delhi for a whopping Rs 8.5 crore to become the most expensive Indian player. Shane Watson, another all-round talent, was the most expensive international player.

To Pujara’s detriment, he is not known for his bowling and is just about a handy fielder. While his batting is equipped with a repertoire of shots, his natural game isn’t attuned to power-hitting and nor is he among the quickest runners between the wickets. Remember what happened when VVS Laxman tried to do the same? It remains a memory that we’d prefer to banish forever.

There is also the question of batting position – where does one fit India’s Test No 3 in a T20 team?

Pujara, who often opens in domestic T20, might find it difficult to start hitting from the word go with the field restrictions in place. But can he come lower down the order when pinch-hitting is the key to a big score, is another question. He could take up the role of an innings anchor – essayed efficiently in previous IPLs by Ajinkya Rahane – but it’s not a role needed in every IPL match.

And then there is the big impediment – money. IPL teams are increasingly becoming penny wise. In the 2017 auction, he has a reserve price of Rs 50 lakh. Some of the other prominent Indian players in this price bracket are Irfan Pathan and Manoj Tiwary. Either of these players would, on the face of it, seem to be more suited to T20 cricket than Pujara.

It is these factors, more than just his strike rate and batting style, that are perhaps the reason why IPL teams won’t consider Pujara in the upcoming auctions.

But then again, sport is all about proving perceptions wrong. In the last few months, Pujara has consciously changed his game and approach, as is seen in his improving strike rate and increasingly proactive shot making.

Given a chance, Pujara has the prowess to adapt to the shorter version of the game and become a vital cog in a team’s batting order. But will he ever get the chance? Come February 20, we will know.