Cheteshwar Pujara slams double-ton in Ranji Trophy: Can he make India return for England Tests?

Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara slammed a defiant double-hundred against Jharkhand in Rajkot on Sunday to help Saurashtra seize control in the opening round of the Ranji Trophy. Pujara, who had recently been dropped from the Indian team after a series of inconsistent performances, remained unbeaten on 243 off 356 deliveries.

Not only was it Pujara’s 61st First-Class ton, it was also his 17th First-Class double ton that takes him level with England’s Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash. Only Don Bradman (37), Wally Hammond (36) and Patsy Hendren (22) have scored more red-ball double-hundreds than him.

The 35-year-old collected 30 boundaries along the way as Saurashtra ended up posting 578/4 on the board after bowling Jharkhand out for a meagre 142. As a result, the hosts collected a massive 436-run lead at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

𝗗𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗲𝘀𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝘂𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮! 💯💯

A spectacular 2⃣0⃣0⃣ in Rajkot from the Saurashtra batter! 👏👏

Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/xYOBkksyYt#RanjiTrophy | #SAUvJHA | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @saucricket | @cheteshwar1 pic.twitter.com/ofLZSf2qcl

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 7, 2024

Pujara had stitched a massive 256-run unbroken partnership for the fifth wicket with middle-order batter Prerak Mankad, helping Saurashtra get within touching distance of the 600-mark before captain Jaydev Unadkat decided to declare the innings.

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Pujara’s performance will no doubt have given the two-time champions the platform to begin their title defence on a winning note. The veteran batter, however, might just hope his double-ton gets noticed beyond the confines of the SCA Stadium, and that the Indian selectors are also watching the Ranji Trophy with keen interest.

The knock, after all, comes less than three weeks before the marquee five-Test series between India and England gets underway at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on 25 January. Pujara might just be hoping to make one last Test comeback and ensure that he bows out from the international game on his own terms rather than getting dropped.

In that context, the runs scored against Jharkhand might just be crucial.

Can Pujara make one last Test comeback?

It’s been more than a decade singe ChePu represented India in limited-overs cricket, making the last of his five ODI appearances in 2014. Pujara, however, remained an integral part of the team and had succeeded batting legend and current head coach Rahul Dravid at the No 3 spot.

He had been dropped from the side alongside Ajinkya Rahane after poor returns in the 2021-22 tour of South Africa, which the Indians ended up losing 1-2 despite gaining the series lead in Centurion. Pujara, however, would fight his way back into the side in the delayed fifth Test against England later that year and would also feature in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

However, the selectors had had enough with the Saurashtra batter after his indifferent outing (14 and 27) in the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval last June, after which Pujara was dropped from the Test team for a second time in as many years.

Looking at India’s performances in the recently-concluded tour of South Africa, where the Rohit Sharma-led side failed to conquer the ‘Final Frontier’ but managed to pull off a historic Test victory in Cape Town nevertheless, one could say the batting unit is still a work in progress.

The Indian team after all, had their fair share of collapses at Centurion’s SuperSport Park as well as Cape Town’s Newlands. While it was mainly the top-order that crumbled in Centurion, the middle-order crumbled spectacularly in Cape Town — going from 153/4 to 153 all out in a space of two overs.

Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal didn’t look too impressive across the two Tests batting India’s chase of the 79-run target in Cape Town, where he struck a 23-ball 28. Shubman Gill, who has succeeded Pujara at the number three spot, too got off to promising starts in the series but couldn’t quite convert them into bigger scores, or go past fifty for that matter.

The only way Pujara can make a comeback is if the team management decides to revert to the Rohit-Gill opening combo for the England Tests and bring Pujara back to his old spot at Jaiswal’s expense. However, what makes the move unlikely is the fact that Jaiswal’s a lot younger and had only recently started his international career, slamming a memorable 171 on Test debut in last summer’s tour of the Caribbean.

And a double-century in the domestic competition, while indicative of a batter in fine touch, does not automatically guarantee a return to the team. What it does, however, is to bring said batter back in discussion, perhaps as a back-up option should the need arise.

Pujara will have a couple of more opportunities coming up before the first of the five Tests gets underway — against Haryana and Vidarbha starting on 12 and 19 January respectively. Should he get big scores in these two games as well, Pujara might just worsen the the selectors’ headache. He might not get picked right away but might just make a comeback at some point in the series.