All said and done, 351 players will go under the hammer, come 20th of February in Bengaluru. There are 122 overseas players. But our focus will be on a player who is not renowned for his T20 prowess, but is a classy No. 3 in Tests for India, here is presenting Cheteshwar Pujara, the Saurashtrian.
He is technically flawless, but T20 is a totally different ‘kettle of fish’, fast paced format, hence some quality players across the world get overlooked.
This time around, Cheteshwar Pujara has been pretty vocal about his inclination to represent a franchise at the Indian Premier League. But the ‘moment of truth’ is slated for the 20th. Will he, won’t he, question marks hover over his buy.
He went up for auctions last time as well, only to be snubbed by all franchises. He was a part of the Kings XI and the KKR franchise but did not become a regular for any of the teams.
But his chances this year are bright, lets find out why.
It takes two to tango, and when @cheteshwar1 joins Murali Vijay at the centre, they make the opponents toil hard! #INDvBAN @Paytm pic.twitter.com/gmEMzJx0ER
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 9, 2017
His 54 off 58 balls in the second innings of the one-off Test against Bangladesh is a testament of it.
Is this good enough considering the belligerent format IPL is? Recently, he smashed a hundred in the DY Patil Tournament, again making his case strong.
Opportunities have been minimal for Pujara in this format, he has a strike rate of 99.74 in IPL, but that is average considering the explosive format.
Even in Tests at home he scores at a strike rate of over 60+, which is great. He could secure a spot in the team if any franchise is looking for stability at the top of the order. Also considering the base price, teams may feel he is a great buy at that amount.
Is the Punjab franchise listening?
