'An anomaly in today's world': India wicketkeeper-batter sums up Cheteshwar Pujara's status in modern-day cricket

Despite Australia staging a comeback in the third Test against India in Indore, Cheteshwar Pujara was one of the bright spots for the home side in a rather disappointing encounter. With the series at 2-1, Australia will be aiming to end the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a series-levelling victory in Ahmedabad in the final Test. In the third Test, India were disappointing with the bat, although Pujara grabbed a half-century in the second innings, but it was enough as the visitors cruised to an easy victory on Day 3. The veteran faced 142 deliveries and smacked 59 runs, including five fours and a six.

Meanwhile, in the second Test match, Pujara hit the winning runs as India reached 188 for four, in response to their target of 115. Playing in his 100th Test, Pujara slammed an unbeaten knock of 31 runs off 74 balls, packed with four fours.

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Speaking on Cricbuzz, India international Dinesh Karthik lavished praise on the batter and called him an 'anomaly' in modern-day cricket. Explaining his role in modern-day cricket where T20s is the preferred style, Karthik said, "It's hard. I think in many ways you don't see many players just wanting to model themselves for the red ball game and then keep white ball as a second option. You see a lot of players going the other way where they play a lot of white ball and keep red ball as an option. If the technique is good enough, you don't get many Pujaras, many players with the mindset of Pujara as well. So he is an anomaly in today's world but you can see why he is so special in trying conditions in tough conditions. Test cricket, five days, sometimes thee days, but the pressure is always on."

"He is a phenomenon as a batsman, one of the rare breeds whose priority is red ball cricket", he further added.

In the ongoing series, Pujara has scored 8 runs in three matches, including five innings. Highlighting his presence in the Indian batting line-up, Karthik stated, "Absolutely, I think he stood out among the nine batters that have played for India. I think Axar is the only one that looked really confident throughout his innings. But Pujara was in good flow, and what does he do when he is in good flow on spinning pitches like this, he uses the feet, but not just to attack, but defend a lot of the times."

"He consistently plays the ball around the ground. I think it is very much in his DNA not to lose his wicket. You can see he is taking options, where he is beating fielders and just beating the gaps for the odd single. He keeps rotating strike and when given an opportunity, if he gets a full ball, definitely threads it between the fielders and gets it to the boundary. Very effective in his gameplay, yes he hasn't been consistent but you know why Team India has backed him when you see a batter like this in tough conditions, tough situations, standing up and showing the world why he is so good", he further added.

The fourth and final Test is scheduled to begin from March , and will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The hosts will be aiming to grab a series-clinching victory. Meanwhile, Australia will hope to level the series.