Importance of Cheteshwar Pujara: Fans hail India's lone warrior in Kolkata Test

Last year, India captain Virat Kohli said that Cheteshwar Pujara needs to work on his strike rate to cement a place in the XI. And he was even dropped.

Importance of Cheteshwar Pujara: Fans hail India's lone warrior in Kolkata Test Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Last year, India captain Virat Kohli said that Cheteshwar Pujara needs to work on his strike rate to cement a place in the XI. And he was even dropped. (LIVE BLOG | SCORECARD)

On Friday (November 17), as India fight to save the series opener against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Pujara showed his class, and importance, to a team which is on a relentless winning run.

Today, his effort reminds us of that Anil Kumble statement: "In the team you need different characters, you need different quality players, you need different players with skill sets which are suited to challenges in a Test match. Because every session can be different in a Test match, we have seen that. And that`s the beauty about Test cricket. From my point of view, strike rates are only relevant to bowlers in Test cricket, not the batsmen."

Yes, the former coach was defending Pujara when Kohli raised the issue after India's tour of West Indies last year.

With rain continuing to play spoilsport in Kolkata, India's famed top order crumbled. When the rain stopped play on Day 2 after 32.5 overs' play, India were precariously placed at 74/5.

But there's Puajara, holding the fort with an unbeaten 47 off 102 balls with the help of nine fours. Such is the plight of other Indian batsmen on a devilish green top, which was purportedly prepared considering the upcoming tour of South Africa, that none managed a double-digit figure.

KL Rahul (0), Shikhar Dhawan (8), Virat Kohli (0), Ajinkya Rahane (4) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4) were the wickets fallen.

And fans took to micro-blogging site Twitter to hail India's lone warrior, and reading some of these posts will make your day.

After hours of rain delay, Sri Lanka won the toss yesterday and asked India to bat first. Then Suranga Lakmal toyed with Indian top order, removing Rahul off the very first ball of the match, which was followed by the wickets of Dhawan and Kohli.

When bad light stopped play on Day 1, Lakmal already got figures of 6-6-0-3.

By the way, Lankans are playing their first Test match at Eden Gardens, and are looking for their maiden on Indian soil.

Last time the two sides engaged in a Test series, India whitewashed the Lankans 3-0 in their own backyard.