Analysing the Pujara absence - no him, no win?

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped for the first Test against England in Birmingham due to poor form.

Without Pujara, India’s win per cent is 26.09 — six wins in 23 Tests.

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara hasn’t been in the greatest of forms despite spending months in the English county. Virat Kohli took a bold step by dropping the right-hander from the first Test in Birmingham.

K.L. Rahul — who maintained his IPL form with a T20 ton upon landing in England — is the new No. 3.

Cricket statistician Mohandas Menon revealed India’s win record with Pujara is 56.90 per cent — 33 wins in 58 Tests. India lost 12 and 13 were drawn.

India in Tests with/without Cheteshwar Pujara....
with - win% 56.90 (58 Tests, 33 wins, 12 lost, drawn 13)
without - win% 26.09 (23 Tests, 6 wins, 10 lost, drawn 7)#EngvInd#IndvEng

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 1, 2018

 

Without Pujara, India’s win per cent is 26.09 — six wins in 23 Tests. India lost 10 and seven were drawn.

But Pujara has struggled outside Asia. In fact, he averaged 22.20 in India’s last tour of England in 2014.

Pujara walked into the series on the back of low scores. He managed only 172 runs in 12 innings for Yorkshire in the county and failed to fire in the warm-up game against Essex.

When Pujara became permanent in the Indian team, there were comparisons with Rahul Dravid who had a phenomenal overseas record, but the Saurashtra batsman is far from close.