High time Pujara sorted out his footwork

His lack of confidence might have prompted the team-management to send him at No.6 at the MCG

Cheteshwar Pujara fails to read this delivery from Mitchell Johnson in the third Test at the MCG on Friday. Photo: AP

Footwork is the essence of batsmanship. It’s that precious ability of a batsman to judge the length of a delivery and respond with appropriate feet movement.

In Australia, successful batting, unless the length demands otherwise, is a lot about going back and using the depth of the crease. This not only enables the batsman to shorten the length but also gives him more time to play the horizontal bat shots — the cut and the pull — that can be so effective in Australia.

This method could also force the paceman to pitch the ball further up and then the batsman, unless the ball is swinging, can get on to the front foot and essay the drive.

Good footwork — that alters the length of a bowler — is a lot about decisiveness.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s footwork though has been indecisive. The team-management’s decision to send him at No. 6 in the second innings at the MCG was a reflection of Pujara’s lack of confidence.

He has appeared tentative, been unsure of his off-stump, and subsequently paid the price. He is getting into half-cock positions — neither fully forward nor back — and been caught in no-man’s land.

Balance is a critical necessity for a batsman and there is no way Pujara’s weight can be well distributed if he is half forward to deliveries demanding a different footwork pattern.

The bowlers have been finding him out, often pitching between six to eight metres before the stumps, just outside the off. Pujara, neither forward nor back, has been nicking these deliveries.

Pujara has not really moved his feet to cover the swing from the pacemen in the manner a No. 3 batsman should.

Crouching stance

One also gets the impression that Pujara has been crouching a tad too much in his stance. This is precisely why the right-hander is finding it hard to get on top of the bounce on the surfaces here.

This might have been the reason why Pujara, unable to sway away, ducked right into a Mitchell Johnson bouncer at the MCG. In the instance, the helmet grill saved this batsman.

Because of his stance, his left elbow is not high enough as the bat meets the ball. Consequently, he has struggled to cope with lift.

Pujara’s grip — while he is not bottom-handed in true sense of the term, his right hand still dominates — can actually enable him to play the cut and the pull on these wickets. The right-hander, however, has to stay upright and travel back in his crease to execute these shots.

The batsman could also be gripping the bat too hard. Pujara has not been defending the rising deliveries with soft hands.

There are two sets of movements that have been successfully employed in Australia. Being classically back and across, as the legendary Sunil Gavaskar was against fast bowlers.

The other, one that has again fetched batsmen plenty of runs down under, is the back and back movement.

Considering the ball does not keep low here for most part, this technique has its admirers.

While the bouncing delivery remains a distinct threat for sub-continental batsmen down under, the Aussie pacemen do pick up wickets aplenty with their swing or seam movement on or just outside off.

Actually, they disrupt footwork with bounce and then find the nicks with deviation.

Coming into the series, Pujara averaged 15.00 in two Tests in New Zealand. In England, it was 22.20 from five Tests. The batsman needs to have a close look at his technique.

A determined cricketer with old-fashioned values, Pujara still has interesting possibilities. He has to sort out his footwork first.