Try Pujara in the shorter formats

What is tougher to deal with? Your debut match against one of the best teams in the world in front of a packed house, or the knowledge that regardless of your showing in the game, you'd only get one chance, at least for the time being?

Just to add to the pressure, you got a ball that kept alarmingly low in the first innings and constantly reminded you of a letdown. You stand at the edge of the cliff; one wrong move and it might just blow up all your dreams. That's how Cheteshwar Pujara must have felt when he walked on to the field to take guard as India's No. 3 batsman on the last day of the second Test match against Australia in Bangalore. If there is ever what we call a 'pressure-cooker situation' in cricket, that was certainly one of those.

Surely then, the way you embark upon such a situation would inevitably determine the shape your career takes. These situations separate men from boys, and the way Pujara responded showed that he belonged. His feet movement was decisive, his shot selection assured, and above all, the composure with which he played must have calmed a few nerves in the dressing room.

I have seen Pujara grow as a player from close quarters. He's a batsman in the traditional mould who prefers grinding down the opposition with solid technique and immense patience. His consistent performances were rewarded with further selections till he faced the corporate world of the IPL. He was picked for Kolkata Knight Riders, but was sent home without getting a chance, halfway through the first season. That was when he realised the need to change, quite radically, with the times. No longer was it only about notching up the runs, it was also about being flamboyant and flashy too.

That is when he must have walked the thin line of losing what he had, in pursuit of what he should have. If you try to score quickly in the longer format, there's a good possibility of sacrificing big runs and if that happens, you're surely doomed. You may impress a franchise or two with your strike-rate but it is only the big runs that would impress the selectors. But to his credit he took it as a challenge and learned to switch gears. His strike-rate improved appreciably while he continued to score tons. His List A stats were equally impressive as his first-class ones, which led to him being made the captain of the India A team touring England. He not only led the team with success in the shorter format but also returned as the highest run scorer.

While he's made a good start to his international career, he is most likely to be reduced to being a tourist for some time. Despite his success in the shorter format, he's unlikely to be picked for ODIs which means that he will have no international exposure till someone else in the Test XI pulls a muscle. That's not at all encouraging, begging a question to be asked -- if Pujara is good enough to lead India's second-best team and also scores more runs than everyone else, then why can't he be considered for the shorter format? I'm not saying that he walks into the full-strength ODI team, but is at least given the right of admission into the one which is going to face the Aussies, which of course is giving a miss to the frontrunners. For a player to keep evolving as a cricketer it is mandatory to throw constant challenges at him and that can only happen if you feature in the playing XI.