Starc, Other Australian Bowlers Stopped Trying To Dismiss Pujara: Alyssa Healy

Australia women’s captain Alyssa Healy has revealed that her husband Mitchell Starc and the rest of the Australian bowling attack often gave up on dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara, instead focusing on removing the batters at the other end whenever they played Test cricket against India.

Pujara, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket, enjoyed an illustrious Test career spanning 103 matches. The Saurashtra batter accumulated 7195 runs at an average of 43.60, building his reputation on grit, patience, and unwavering resilience. For over a decade, he was the backbone of India’s batting line-up.

The right-hander’s greatest legacy lies in India’s historic Test triumphs in Australia. In the 2018-19 series, which marked India’s first-ever Test series win Down Under, Pujara stood tall with 521 runs at an average of 74.43, batting a staggering 1258 balls.

He was equally pivotal during the famous 2020–21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where an injury-hit Indian side pulled off the legendary Gabba victory. Pujara’s remarkable ability to absorb pressure was on full display, as he faced 928 deliveries in that series, wearing down Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon.

Across 25 Tests against Australia, Pujara scored 2074 runs at an average of nearly 50, including 11 fifties and five centuries. More tellingly, he soaked up 4903 balls in those encounters - a statistic that sums up his value as India’s immovable wall.

Healy, speaking on the Willow Talk podcast, admitted she couldn’t fathom having the mental strength Pujara showed against relentless attacks. "I don't have the mental fortitude to be able to do that. When you put it like that, that's wild. 

“And he was a huge part of those two series wins against Australia, because he kept that bowling attack out and drained them and made them work so hard. And I think by the end of it, they just stopped trying to get him out and tried to get the other end out because they just figured it was too hard.”

With the pace of run-scoring in Tests accelerating in recent years, Healy was also asked whether Pujara might be remembered as one of the last “old-school” Test batters.

"I wouldn't have thought so. I think more often now it's how do I score? And you still look at Test cricket now, we spoke about it last summer, like (Nathan) McSweeney came in and sort of got stuck, Marnus (Labuschagne) came in, got stuck, and all we spoke about was they need to look to score first.

"Whereas I think that conversation has changed over the years. It probably used to be, how do we keep him out? How do I bat for long periods of time? So no, I don't think we necessarily will see someone like that again.

"But you think about the guys in world cricket at the moment who play similar sorts of roles — Joe Root, Steve Smith in our group. They play a similar sort of anchor role and let the guys sort of flourish around them, which I think is a really important role."