Busting Cheteshwar Pujara's fitness myth - More deserving of an ODI spot than Rohit Sharma

So what then keeps Pujara out?

It is well known that, in most cases and most certainly in India, while the selectors are in charge of picking the 15-member squad, the captain and the coach are normally given the complete rights to choose the playing 11.

There appears to be a difference in opinion between the two sides, as despite the fact that the selectors are pushing him in, the captain and the coach continue to ignore him. It went to an extent that Dhoni was prepared to promote someone like Rohit, who had botched almost all of his chances till that point of time, ahead of him.

Now that he is not even in consideration, have the selectors come to a conclusion that it would be better to include a player whom their captain would at least play than someone whom he doesn’t place any trust in?

So, I believe looking at this way is more reasonable than looking from the fitness point of view, which has a lot of loop-holes.

Why does MS Dhoni ignore Pujara in ODIs?

Well, we all know Dhoni believes in having agile fielders and part-timers in the team. Rohit Sharma is one of those players whom Dhoni rates very highly and he fits both the above-mentioned criteria while Pujara is neither a telling presence in the field nor a part-time bowler. So, that should have been the reason why the captain might have gone ahead with Rohit. Simply put, Pujara does not bring what MSD expects in his team.

The number 4 and number 5 spots are vacant. So why is Pujara still not being considered then? The number 5 spot answers for itself. Pujara doesn’t fit there at all. The number 4 is more of a 50-50. While he could very well be a success story, I would not fault with anyone who thinks it is not the right way to go as when the 2nd wicket falls late, say into the 25 th over, his skills cannot be completely utilised.

Ideally he should be a one-down batsman. But we have arguably the best player in the world at that spot and that leaves opening as the only vacant position, one where Dhoni’s gamble paid-off big time and shut the door on Pujara.

Yes, Pujara cannot be flexible in the field but with the new rule bringing in 5 fielders inside the circle, for the kind of quality he brings to the batting unit, you can afford to hide him in the field especially when he plays with a pretty good fielding unit.

What do we do with Rohit then?

Why have only one when you can have both Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara?

Bring him back to number 4. While the improved version may not be enough to face high-class swing bowling upfront, as shown in the recently concluded South Africa tour, the temperament will come to his rescue down the order.

Sample this, Rohit can struggle big time facing up to Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson but will have his life easy against Wayne Parnell and Clint Mckay. Also, this solves one more of India’s problems which is the hunt for the number 4 in the absence of Yuvraj Singh.

Let me conclude by giving the final touch which could shed more light into why I think this whole idea of ‘reducing the workload’ concept doesn’t make sense at all.

Pujara has so far played 91 First-Class and 68 List A matches. Take this in comparison with Rohit, who has been a part of 62 First-Class and 181 List A matches.

The extremely injury prone (or so believed to be) and bedridden (okay, not bedridden obviously but that is the extent to which his injuries are being hyped) doesn’t lag behind by much in comparison with the fitter Rohit, when you take into consideration that Pujara has 29 more four-day matches to compensate for 113 extra list A (one day fixtures) appearances from Rohit. Also, Pujara has played 17 Test matches in addition to it as against Rohit’s 4 Tests. Not to forget, he is a year younger than Rohit.

Pujara, who has made it clear that he wants to be a part of the One-Day side, will be leaving no stones unturned till he makes it. So, it is not like he is going to be resting when he doesn’t play Test cricket for India. The 26-year-old is ready to pounce on every little opportunity that comes his way to maximise his playing chances for the Indian ODI team. So, he doesn’t play lesser amount of matches in any case.

It is not like he is picking and choosing matches to keep himself fit. Unless it is conveyed to Pujara that he needs to stop pushing for a place in the ODI side, there would be no real use in restricting him to Test cricket. More so, when the next two World Cups are scheduled in Oceania and England.

Oh, and we haven’t even discussed about the Indian Premier League. Why not stop him there too? That I would not bother, as I do not see him as a T20 player.