VVS Laxman And Aakash Chopra Explains Virat Kohli And Cheteshwar Pujara’s Century Drought

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Former India cricketers Aakash Chopra and VVS Laxman have explained the reason why Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara haven’t been able to score a century in international cricket. Both Kohli and Pujara scored their last international century in January and November 2019 respectively. 

Pujara’s last century came against Australia in the fourth Test of the 2018-19 Test series between India and Australia in Sydney. He amassed 193 runs before being caught and bowled by Nathan Lyon. SInce then, he has scored a lot of half-centuries but hasn’t been able to convert them into hundreds. The right-hander came close against England earlier this year but got out on 91 runs. Meanwhile, Laxman believes that Pujara not getting a century is definitely a worry.

“Yes, it’s definitely a worry. Because the batting position Pujara usually bats is No. 3. You usually get a lot more opportunities (to score hundreds) than when you’re batting at No. 5 or No. 6,” Laxman told Star Sports.

The former India player added that Pujara had a wonderful opportunity to get past the 100-run mark. He also praised Pujara for negating short-pitching bowling by Tim Southee. 

“He had a wonderful opportunity, just like Mayank Agarwal. He will be probably very disappointed because it was not just about missing a half-century but a big hundred. But he found a method out to negate the short-pitched strategy from Southee. I thought he had a wonderful opportunity to get a hundred,” Laxman added. “It’s about people talking about that and it can get frustrating. The quicker you get to the 3-figure mark, then everyone will stop talking and then you can go out and do your business with a very, very free mind.”

Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra believes that the 33-year-old scoring 47 against New Zealand was not a bad return. He added that the team would like to give Pujara a long rope but on the other side, it is high time he scores centuries

“Is the glass half full or half empty? … He has certainly scored runs, albeit missed his half-century. He couldn’t open his account in the first innings so 47 in the second innings is not a bad return. From one point of view, it’s OK that he has got some runs under his belt. But the fact is that he didn’t score a century here either. And if that won’t happen, the way forward will be very tough,” Aakash Chopra said speaking on his YouTube channel.

“I think he’s doing alright, he’s doing just enough to stay in the side. You also want to give him a longer rope… But when you look at the bigger picture then you feel that it’s high time he scored runs and centuries,” Chopra added.

Both Laxman and Chopra also went on to explain why Virat Kohli has not been able to score a century. Laxman said that Kohli needs to wait patiently and once he gets a big score, we all know what he can do. On the other hand, Chopra said that Pujara playing only Test format makes it difficult or him to come out of century drought in comparison to Kohli. 

“I just think he has to wait patiently. If there is a pattern in the way he is getting dismissed, when he is out there in the middle if he is struggling to time the ball, if he is struggling to get on top of the ball, then it’s a problem. I don’t think he has that problem. I just think it’s about him going out and playing a long innings and once that long innings comes, once he gets to that milestone, we all know what Virat Kohli can do,” VVS told Star Sports.

“His case is different from Kohli’s because we see Kohli play every week… He plays all formats so the wheel keeps moving, runs keep coming from somewhere or the other… When you play continuously, you make those important contributions, and [think that] the century will come. But as Pujara plays only Tests – last he played in September and will next play in South Africa and Sri Lanka – then the gaps are bigger and his case becomes difficult,” Chopra said.