News Analysis

Pujara's welcome to county cricket

Cheteshwar Pujara's first innings for Derbyshire was a short-lived affair, but the club hope it could be the start of a lengthy relationship with the Indian star

It was a difficult Test series for Cheteshwar Pujara but he is always keen to further his cricket education  •  Getty Images

It was a difficult Test series for Cheteshwar Pujara but he is always keen to further his cricket education  •  Getty Images

Those perusing the scorecard from Cardiff might pass quickly over the contribution of CA Pujara, who fell lbw to J Allenby on the second morning. Plenty of batsmen have suffered similar fates: Jim Allenby has taken almost 200 first-class wickets for Glamorgan with his niggardly medium pace. Pujara's seven runs, coming from 26 balls in 27 minutes, constituted his first outing for Derbyshire, having been given dispensation by the BCCI to play the final few weeks of the season. Welcome to county cricket, son.
Perhaps it was to be expected. Cheteshwar Pujara, one of only nine men to have scored three first-class triple-hundreds, has not played for three weeks and that was when rounding off India's miserable 3-1 Test series defeat, during which he averaged 22.20 with one fifty. His response to failure, having come to England feted as the successor to Rahul Dravid at No. 3, was also no surprise: practice.
Growing up in Rajkot, Pujara's technique was honed facing thousands of under-arm throwdowns from his father, Arvind. In James Astill's book, The Great Tamasha, Arvind relates how he identified his son's talent at only a few years of age, simply from the way in which he watched the ball. He also describes the temperament that brought Cheteshwar a Test debut at the age of 22 and an average of 66.25 by the start of 2014: "If he scores runs, he thanks God. If he fails to score runs, he says it is God's will."
In those early days, he was known as "Chintu". At Derbyshire, his new team-mates have already nicknamed him "Puj". Derby was the first stop on India's tour and he formed an immediate affinity for the club. "When we were coming into Derby I saw farmer's fields and beautiful farm houses," he told the local paper. "That was my first experience. I loved Derby because it is a small town and the quietness of it."
Pujara made an impression on Derbyshire as well and the club were already batting around the possibility of trying to sign him for 2015 when he expressed a desire to continue his education in English conditions right away. Tom Poynton, the wicketkeeper injured in a car accident before the start of the season, effectively tapped up Pujara during the tour match, while running Derbyshire's India Club project, and they were quick to make arrangements for him to replace Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the final few games of the season.
When you are trying to build relationships with the local Indian community, it does not hurt to have an India Test player in your side. On Monday, Pujara attended a charity launch at an inner-city community school, joshing good-naturedly with children and posing for photos. Graeme Welch, in his first season as head coach, hopes the arrangement can be mutually beneficial.
"Obviously India had a bad time over here and I think they want their players to come over here and learn how to play the swinging ball," Welch says. "He seems a very nice man, he's very respectful, he's integrated with the team brilliantly. We'll try and make him as comfortable and welcome as we can. If we can build a relationship with him and he likes coming back here, everybody's happy.
"The management team have always spoken about Pujara, he averages 50 in Test match cricket, so he's obviously a very good player. We were trying to think of overseas players for next year and his name popped up. It just so happened that Tom Poynton and the chairman were speaking to him when they played here, they sowed the seed. India didn't have a very good Test series and that connection happened. A lot of Indians came down for the tour game, there's a lot of influential Indians in Derby, so it works for everybody. He's getting some experience, we can drag some more supporters in."
It was also in Derby that Dravid, working with India during their Test series build-up, suggested Pujara would benefit from a spell with a county. India players are a less common sight in English domestic cricket these days, though plenty at Derbyshire remember Mohammad Azharuddin's prolific season for them in 1991, when his "revolving door" wrists rattled off 2016 runs, with seven hundreds.
There is also a story about Virender Sehwag, during his one season with Leicestershire, deciding to get rid of a reverse-swinging ball by hitting it out of the ground, ensuring it would be lost. Pujara is not really that sort of batsman but he will doubtless come up with his own solutions, honing the technique he developed with his father at the Railways ground.
Having spent 90 overs in the field on the first day, he came out to bat on Wednesday with Derbyshire 45 for 2, exchanging a mandatory glove punch with Wayne Madsen, captain and No. 3. His first ball, from Graham Wagg, was nudged watchfully behind square and, after playing out a maiden from Allenby, Pujara caressed the same bowler for a cover-driven four. That brought polite applause from a crowd barely into three figures, on a ground where India had been cheered raucously to victory in the ODI two weeks before.
There were a couple more singles, several leaves outside off, front and back-foot defence. Then Allenby, bowling from the River Taff end, trapped him on the crease. He lingered a moment, contemplating Nigel Llong's raised finger, before sloping off. Time to have an ice cream and enjoy the sunshine. There will be another chance soon, such are the eddying waters of the schedule. He'll pick up the rhythm. Welcome to county cricket, son.

Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick