The Pujara All-Stars
Cheteshwar Pujara, perhaps one of the most polarizing players in the Indian Test setup today. The former golden boy of the Indian team in the toughest discipline in the sport is now facing calls for the axe putting him in a precarious situation. He’s experienced the highs and lows that few batsmen have faced in their careers. His see-saw career has made him a hard batsman to rate. For example — Pujara is one of only three batsmen in history to average above 60 at home and below 40 away from it — the other two being Dennis Compton and Vijay Hazare. So I set about finding players who’ve had similarly topsy-turvy careers and make by Roller Coaster Batting Line Up. I’m looking for players who’ve experienced the same highs and lows he has. Here’s how I did it.
Here are the rules I have used to find careers comparable to Puj:
1. Averaged 60+ in at least 3 calendar years (minimum 6 matches in a career)
Averaging 60 is Test cricket is not easy. Only 46 players have done it even twice since 1975. Doing it in three separate years puts you in some elite company. Run machines like Sehwag, Cook, Kallis and Jayasuriya have only done it once. There are only 21 players since 1975 to have done it thrice, so we’re already limiting our comparison set to some elite players here. The leaders here are Sachin (9 times), Kallis (7), Steve Waugh (6) and Border, Miandad, Dravid & Ponting (5).
2. Career average below 50 (minimum 25 matches in year)
Well, it’s hard to make your case as an all-time great Test batsman if you average under 50. It’s not a hard and fast rule of course, but I think most would agree. This eliminates most of the greats (and Pujara certainly isn’t there yet, or even on course based on current form) including all who I mentioned above.
All data has been looked at since 1975.
These filters throw up an eclectic mix of five players (including Puj), who played across four decades, and we’ve all seen them in action at their peaks, and at their worst. Pujara is the least experienced of the lot, with the other four having played at least 80 matches. This just goes to show that Pujara experienced these highs and lows over a much shorter period of time. I’ve added one of my own, who almost makes it, to complete my Top 6.
Presenting to you, Test cricket’s Roller Coaster Batting Club:

In order to further analyse their careers, and remove home ground bias (especially in the case of Amla) what I’ve done is broken down the averages in different regions (sub-continent as one region) of all these players into three equal phases of their careers. With Pujara, who still has a significant portion of his career ahead of him, I’ve broken into two phases. Let’s look
Cheteshwar Pujara

You know what Pujara’s record is going to tell you, no matter how much we look at it.
Pujara’s record becomes even more lopsided when you look at this. His away average of 34 is boosted by a couple of good Sri Lanka tours, where he has 3 hundreds in six innings at an average of 75.67. He hasn’t played in Bangladesh yet, but you can expect a series or two there in the next few years which should help.
We all know why Pujara is where he is. He’s been flawless in India, and has struggled in conditions where the ball starts doing something. Is this true for the others as well? What other reasons could there be for a player to experience such roller coasters of careers?
Mahela Jayawardena

Mahela, like Pujara has dominated in the subcontinent, but struggled outside of it. It’s shocking that a player of Mahela’s calibre has never averaged over 50 outside the subcontinent, except in West Indies in 2007 (he averaged 51.75 in a two match series). Had Saleem Malik not been part of this list, the Windies would have been classified under ‘Others’ as well, which contextualizes the team’s performance in the 21st century. He never scored a century in South Africa, and in 7 innings he played in New Zealand, he managed just 194 runs, of which 141 was a spectacular hundred he made responding to New Zealand making 537 in Napier, 2005.
Thilan Samaraweera

Samarweera has a much more balanced record than DMPD, and if he a better record at home, he could have been considered a great. Shows you the importance of fattening up on runs at home, and how it makes a difference at the end of your career — hope you’re reading this Jinx.
Thilan really missed out with repeated poor performances in India. In the 10 innings he played in the country, he made only 193 runs at an average of 24.55. This says something about how playing in India can be intimidating for some players as he averages 130.4 playing against India at home. His record in India also contrasts with his record in other sub-continent countries — Pakistan and Bangladesh — where he averaged over 70 in 14 innings.
Another reason for Thilan’s average dropping below 50 is his reasonably poor conversion rate. At 32%, there is a clear sign he failed to convert the starts into the big innings. This is clear when you look at his averages in England and New Zealand despite not having scored a hundred in either of those countries.
That being said, it’s a stellar record nonetheless, and it’s no surprise he’s been made a batting consultant for the current Sri Lankan team.
Saleem Malik

Test cricket was a very different game in Malik’s hay day, and his averages in different parts of the world really stand out in this list. It looks like he enjoyed playing in England more than he did in Pakistan and he’s had good outings in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Over the course of his career, he only average 31.33 in the subcontinent, away from home, including an average under 20 in India, in 18 innings. In fact, his highest score in India is 33.
Hashim Amla

As you can see, the similarity in their home and away averages is further highlighted when looking at their averages inside and outside the sub-continent. it still looks like Pujara is the most similar to Jayawardena in terms of performance and success they’ve enjoyed across the globe. They’ve both been extremely successful in the subcontinent, have struggled overseas.
Graeme Smith

Last on the list, Smith is the wild card entry in this group, as he’s only averaged above 60 in two calendar years. But I needed someone to complete the batting line-up, preferably an opener (sorry Ross Taylor!)
Smith, never known for his technique but his grit, has a significantly better away record. He’s had monster tours all over the world — India, England, Australia and New Zealand. Its no surprise the sluggish West Indian pitches have suited is murderous grit and grind style, and he’s always done well there.
So there you have it.
The Pujara All Starts batting line-up
- Graeme Smith
- Hashim Amla
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Mahela Jayawardena
- Saleem Malik
- Thilan Samaraweera
That’s a powerful top 6, good enough to take on any attack and conditions in the world. Turns out, Pujara’s record has put him in some elite company, and he is better than we thought.
