Going abroad and winning Test matches is considered as one of the greatest achievements of a touring team. However, it is a rare occasion when a team manages to secure a win in an alien condition. Recently, India suffered a humiliating drubbing against New Zealand in the two-match Test series. India’s Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara has opened up on why teams suffer failures in overseas conditions.
The Kiwis completely outclassed Virat Kohli & his men taking down the No. 1 Test team in the world. The Indian batters had no answer to the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Niel Wagner. It was also India’s first defeat in the ICC World Test Championship.
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Meanwhile, Test cricket has lost its glory. Though it still remains the purest form of the game, the fun and thrill which the limited-overs format, especially T20I has to offer have overshadowed the quality of cricket. Cheteshwar Pujara, who has proved his technical superiority in Tests, feels it is difficult to produce a lot of quality players. Not many give importance to the longest format of the game.
“The importance of limited-overs cricket has increased significantly. You are not getting too many quality Test players. Earlier, there was a lot of importance given to a Test series. Players used to take ample rest before that. Now we see so many injuries during the season,” Pujara told PTI.
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“If you look India, Australia, England, the pool of players will be not more than 20-25 whereas if you talk about 10 years ago, India used to have 30-50 players who were ready for Test cricket. I am not saying there are no players available. But if they are ready for Test cricket or not, that is the question,” he added.
In conclusion, Cheteshwar Pujara identified the four-match Test series against Australia down under later this year will be one of the important series going from India’s perspective and will decide the fate of the ICC World Test Championship.
