Cricket: Cheteshwar Pujara has lost that part of his game, says Dale Steyn

Dale Steyn noticed an extremely fascinating part of Cheteshwar Pujara's batting, which he feels is holding the Indian batsman down. Dale Steyn, who bowled to Chesteshwar Pujara during India's visit through South Africa in 2013, where the India batsman played a marvelous thump of 153 in the subsequent innings, feels that for reasons unknown, Chesteshwar Pujara has eliminated playing shots off his backfoot.

South African pacer Dale Steyn trusts Cheteshwar Pujara has lost a piece of his game by eliminating playing shots off the back foot.

Cheteshwar Pujara had a grim excursion in the last of the World Test Championship against New Zealand. He scored eight runs off 54 balls in the primary innings and following that with a 15 off 80 balls in the subsequent innings. India wound up losing the game by eight wickets.

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In a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, Dale Steyn said:“Out of my memory, I just remember Pujara playing great off his legs. Very, very good off his legs and eyes underneath the ball. But I do remember him playing some magical cut shots and back foot drives. Maybe on pitches that a little bit quicker – and Indian wickets are not quick – he played some beautiful balls underneath his eyes through the cover. It’s a part of the game that I feel he has lost."

“That shot today that he played, if he was in a better position, a couple of years ago, maybe he would have gotten more on the back foot and punched it through the covers. Whereas he just stood there half and half on his front foot. Overall, a very soft dismissal – running it down to first slip is a very peculiar way of getting out for a top batter” - he added.

The South African needs Cheteshwar Pujara to be more proactive and not pass up runs.

“That’s the thing I have seen lacking in Pujara. I’m so used to him rocking onto his back foot and playing with his hands and good foot movement. He’s kind of lost that part of his game. And if you’re only hanging on the front foot, good bowlers will not bowl half-volleys to you."

"And you’ve got to turn good balls into good shots. That’s the difference between Test cricket and first-class cricket. He’s missing out on a lot of runs there" - he added.

Cheteshwar Pujara averages a little more than 28 since the Australian visit in mid-2019. Although he played an urgent hand in India's victory in Down Under recently, he endured a droop during the series against England at home.