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Azhar Ali vs Cheteshwar Pujara - Who is better in Tests?

Pujara for me, probably the greatest number 3 on SC pitches especially turners (YK played a lot at 4). Crucial in 2 major away victories, super clutch.

Azhar Ali too is an excellent player, best Pakistani test bat since Younis, will eventually pass the mantle to Babar Azam.
 
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<B>Azhar Ali vs Cheteshwar Pujara for one last time:</B>

Azhar 6400 runs, Avg 42
Pujara 6200 runs, Avg 46

Difference in their averages - 4.0

Now, let's exclude WI, BD, Zim:-

Azhar 4855 runs, Avg 40.45
Pujara 5615 runs, Avg 46.79

Suddenly, after removing minnows, Difference in their averages is 6.0. Also, notice Azhar's aggregate runs have come down too.


Now let us also exclude SL, WI, BD, Zim:-

Azhar 3545 runs, Avg 38.11
Pujara 4872 runs, Avg 44.29

Difference in their averages - 6.0. But also notice, how Azhar's runs tally have come down even more.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...1;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting


To conclude, Azhar has feasted minnows more than Pujara and that is why his career test average is 42 compared to Pujara's 46. If we remove minnows, Azhar's average further slips to 40 while for Pujara, it is still a very good 46 and Pujara is well ahead in terms of runs tally.

Based on these stats, it is fair to say that Pujara is comfortably a level ahead of Azhar as test batsman.
 
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^^^/thread :))

And someone here was doing bhangra over "breaking myths" using the terrible "UAE wickets are tougher than India's" logic... :uakmal
 
Mesozoic said:
^^^/thread :))

And someone here was doing bhangra over "breaking myths" using the terrible "UAE wickets are tougher than India's" logic... :uakmal
Click to expand...

Aren’t you the same person who claims India prepares fair tracks that give equal opportunity to all visiting teams and the preparation of dust bowls is a myth?
 
The reality is that no Pakistani batsman can be better than his Indian counterpart. Indian batting intelligence, temperament, hunger for runs, technique, shot selection etc. is at a different level.

Our best batsman by miles (Babar) is on par with fringe Indian batsmen like KL Rahul, Iyer, Agarwal etc. Such is the humungous gap between the two cricket nations.

Azhar Ali wouldn’t have played more than 15-20 Tests if he was India. He is simply not good enough. Wasim Jaffer was a better batsman than him and even he was not deemed good enough by India.

Pujara is almost as good as Dravid, which means he is several notches above Azhar.
 
Mamoon said:
The reality is that no Pakistani batsman can be better than his Indian counterpart. Indian batting intelligence, temperament, hunger for runs, technique, shot selection etc. is at a different level.

Our best batsman by miles (Babar) is on par with fringe Indian batsmen like KL Rahul, Iyer, Agarwal etc. Such is the humungous gap between the two cricket nations.

Azhar Ali wouldn’t have played more than 15-20 Tests if he was India. He is simply not good enough. Wasim Jaffer was a better batsman than him and even he was not deemed good enough by India.

Pujara is almost as good as Dravid, which means he is several notches above Azhar.
Click to expand...

Lol I can tell you that Shreyas gets lot of flak from Indian fans, especially on Indian forum for his inability to play short bowl.
 
Ab Fan said:
Lol I can tell you that Shreyas gets lot of flak from Indian fans, especially on Indian forum for his inability to play short bowl.
Click to expand...

The level of expectations are miles apart. In Pakistan, fans distribute mithai when a substandard batsman like Fawad averages 35 post comeback and treat him like Don Bradman.

A batsman with poor technique against spin and an average of 42-43 is considered the best batsman in the country by a mile.

On the other hand, someone like Rohit, who is a better batsman than anyone Pakistan has ever produced, could find a place in the middle-order in spite of averaging 40.

Agarwal is considered just a decent player in spite of scoring a 200 and a 150 against South Africa.

Karun Nair is nowhere to be seen in spite of scoring a 300 against Anderson and Broad in only his second match.

Iyer averages almost 50 at a SR of 100+ in ODIs but he is not considered a top prospect.

Pant found himself out of the team in spite of scoring tons on his first tours of England and Australia.

How Indian fans react to certain players is quite misleading when you consider it in the context of Pakistan.
 
Ab Fan said:
<B>Azhar Ali vs Cheteshwar Pujara for one last time:</B>

Azhar 6400 runs, Avg 42
Pujara 6200 runs, Avg 46

Difference in their averages - 4.0

Now, let's exclude WI, BD, Zim:-

Azhar 4855 runs, Avg 40.45
Pujara 5615 runs, Avg 46.79

Suddenly, after removing minnows, Difference in their averages is 6.0. Also, notice Azhar's aggregate runs have come down too.


Now let us also exclude SL, WI, BD, Zim:-

Azhar 3545 runs, Avg 38.11
Pujara 4872 runs, Avg 44.29

Difference in their averages - 6.0. But also notice, how Azhar's runs tally have come down even more.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...1;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting


To conclude, Azhar has feasted minnows more than Pujara and that is why his career test average is 42 compared to Pujara's 46. If we remove minnows, Azhar's average further slips to 40 while for Pujara, it is still a very good 46 and Pujara is well ahead in terms of runs tally.

Based on these stats, it is fair to say that Pujara is comfortably a level ahead of Azhar as test batsman.
Click to expand...

We already know Pujara's a better home track bully than Azhar though...
 
Pujara may not be the glitziest batsmen that India have produced, but he has certainly etched his name in Indian cricket history for helping India win two consecutive series wins in Australia along with Pant, who are the two biggest contributors to the two series wins. Without Pujara, we don't win both series, as simple as that.
 
street cricketer said:
Pujara may not be the glitziest batsmen that India have produced, but he has certainly etched his name in Indian cricket history for helping India win two consecutive series wins in Australia along with Pant, who are the two biggest contributors to the two series wins. Without Pujara, we don't win both series, as simple as that.
Click to expand...

Very true. It makes it more astonishing that better bats than him have gone to Aus and failed to win their team a test series in Aus.
If he manages to pull out a gritty innings vs NZ in June then he's cemented for sure.
 
LOL-COPTER at opinion givers and some maniac Indians (No offence to sane Indian fans)


AA/CP years by year avg ... AA 7/12 times has better avg than Pujara
year 2010 37.71 / 26.25 Winner AA
year 2011 45.75 / 2.00 Winner AA
year 2012 55.10 / 81.75 Winner CP
year 2013 19.28 / 75.36 Winner CP
year 2014 51.33 / 24.15 Winner AA
year 2015 57.60 / 49.57 Winner AA
year 2016 63.05 / 55.73 Winner AA
year 2017 42.00 / 67.05 Winner CP
year 2018 30.41 / 38.04 Winner CP
year 2019 21.72 / 46.09 Winner CP
year 2020 41.00 / 20.37 Winner AA
year 2021 60.33 / 52.00 Winner AA

AA/CP in tougher parts of the test matches (tie)

3rd Innings 43/39 (Winner AA)
4th Innings 26/30 (Winner CP)

AA/CP avg in Wins and Losses (tie)
Wins 53/56 (Winner CP)
Losses 31/25 (Winner AA)

AA/CP in SENA+WI (AA dominates CP in 4/5 SENA+WI venues)
vs AUS .... 52/47 (Winner AA)
vs WI .... 41/20 (Winner AA)
vs ENG .... 33/29 (Winner AA)
vs NZ .... 35/20 (Winner AA)
vs SA .... 17/31 (Winner CP)

AA/CP 100s in SENA+WI (Tie but AA has an unbeaten double hundred in Austrailia)
5, 5

AA/CP Overall away Average
37/37 (Tie)
 
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street cricketer said:
Pujara may not be the glitziest batsmen that India have produced, but he has certainly etched his name in Indian cricket history for helping India win two consecutive series wins in Australia along with Pant, who are the two biggest contributors to the two series wins. Without Pujara, we don't win both series, as simple as that.
Click to expand...

and same goes for Azhar for Pakistan. Azhar debuted in darkest era of Pakistan Cricket. He literally opened batting for Pakistan after parchi openers like Shan masood were out in first 5 overs. Thats his whole career yet he has the stats to match and beat Pujara in many aspects. look at my post above.

I respect both these men. To me they are equals. Azhar Ali just plays for a bad board.
 
TheNightWatchman said:
Very true. It makes it more astonishing that better bats than him have gone to Aus and failed to win their team a test series in Aus.
If he manages to pull out a gritty innings vs NZ in June then he's cemented for sure.
Click to expand...

He's a bit like Kante in the midfield. Does most of the donkey work for his team and makes it more easier for his attacking team mates to take charge of the game.

He just bats as long as possible and makes the opposition pacers clock over after over after over in the heat. Makes the bowlers bowl their first spell, then second spell, then third spell while carefully guarding one end, even if he doesn't score as quickly as someone like Pant or Gill. Finally, after a few spells, the lactic acid build up in the legs of the pacers is bound to have an effect on their accuracy and stamina, which makes it easier for guys like Pant to just come to the crease and play his natural game. He might not be among the most talented batsmen we have produced, but he's right up there among the gutsiest batsmen we have produced along with Mohinder Amarnath, taking blow after blow from Cummins & co but not attempting to play the rising delivery on that decisive final day at the Gabba because of the risk of the ball ballooning to the slips or gully after getting the edge.

I saw an interview of Cummins and Hazelwood once and each was asked who they hate bowling against. And Hazelwood said it was Pujara lol. Apparently during the last series, he said during a pre match team meeting when the team analyst was showing weaknesses of Pujara and other Indian batsmen, Hazelwood apparently remarked, "I'm tired of seeing this guy at the crease for eons and now you show him on the screen again..". This was in one of Ashwin's post Aus series videos uploaded in his channel:narine
 
MesonK said:
and same goes for Azhar for Pakistan. Azhar debuted in darkest era of Pakistan Cricket. He literally opened batting for Pakistan after parchi openers like Shan masood were out in first 5 overs. Thats his whole career yet he has the stats to match and beat Pujara in many aspects. look at my post above.

I respect both these men. To me they are equals. Azhar Ali just plays for a bad board.
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Not sure why you replied me with this. I rate Azhar Ali as a stoic batsman in the mould of Pujara, and never said he's a bad batsman. He just plays for a weaker team and so it's probably a bit difficult for him to replicate Pujara's heroics in Australia.
 
I will always prefer Azhar just because he doesn't have Kohli coming in to bat after him, plays for a mediocre team where his performance carries a lot of weight and because I've pretty much been a fan of his throughout.
 
Gautam Gambhir's stats in SENA are better than both these player's, doesn't mean zilch.
Pujara's exploits in Asia and Aus means that he will always be ranked higher than Azhar who himself is a solid player(Rahane or Ganguly level)
 
Azhar is a very good batsman, at same level to Bell and slightly better than Faf in tests.

Pujara is a level ahead though, about same level to Justin Langer, Gary Kirsten and about 90% as good as Alastair Cook.
 
Pujara > Azhar in Australia
Azhar > Pujara in England

Everywhere else its a tie
 
Both are same type of players with Pujara succeeding more due to being part of team which is winning regularly.
 
Fraud home bully Pujara exposed yet again away from home where as Azhar Ali played his whole career away from home dead wickets.
 
Fans reminisce about SRT and Dravid so they see VK/Pujara as their rightful successors.

Azhar Ali, on the other hand, is the 'ghareeb ka bacha' (the poor man's son) and nobody rates underdogs.

For me, AA has been a very key player to Pak's batting.

This WTC final was Pujara's moment to shine yet he failed miserably.
 
Mamoon said:
The level of expectations are miles apart. In Pakistan, fans distribute mithai when a substandard batsman like Fawad averages 35 post comeback and treat him like Don Bradman.

A batsman with poor technique against spin and an average of 42-43 is considered the best batsman in the country by a mile.

On the other hand, someone like Rohit, who is a better batsman than anyone Pakistan has ever produced, could find a place in the middle-order in spite of averaging 40.

Agarwal is considered just a decent player in spite of scoring a 200 and a 150 against South Africa.

Karun Nair is nowhere to be seen in spite of scoring a 300 against Anderson and Broad in only his second match.

Iyer averages almost 50 at a SR of 100+ in ODIs but he is not considered a top prospect.

Pant found himself out of the team in spite of scoring tons on his first tours of England and Australia.

How Indian fans react to certain players is quite misleading when you consider it in the context of Pakistan.
Click to expand...

Highlight : Rohit is a better batsman than anyone Pak has ever produced
 
Pujara can only bat on flat tracks. Have never rated his game. This must be his 3rd tour England and he continues to fail.
 
Ahmed216 said:
Pujara can only bat on flat tracks. Have never rated his game. This must be his 3rd tour England and he continues to fail.
Click to expand...
True. His only good trait is grit, nothing else. He isn't half as good as his predecessor Dravid.
 
Pujara has regressed quite badly....he wasn't as limited back in 2012-13.

Apart from a couple of great tours of Oz he has failed miserably away from home.....for someone who was supposed to be Dravid's replacement he hasn't delivered at all.

Still better than Azhar Ali but not by much.......but Azhar doesn't get a chance to tour SENA(and get acclimatised) as often as Pujara does so maybe he should get some leeway.
 
Ahmed216 said:
Highlight : Rohit is a better batsman than anyone Pak has ever produced
Click to expand...

Yeah...Rohit with an away avg of 27 is better than any batsman Pak has ever produced.

Just like....Shubman Gill with an avg of 31 is already the 2nd best Asian test batsman(after Kohli).

And don't forget Prithvi Shaw....once in a century talent
 
Ab Fan said:
<B>Azhar Ali vs Cheteshwar Pujara for one last time:</B>

Azhar 6400 runs, Avg 42
Pujara 6200 runs, Avg 46

Difference in their averages - 4.0

Now, let's exclude WI, BD, Zim:-

Azhar 4855 runs, Avg 40.45
Pujara 5615 runs, Avg 46.79

Suddenly, after removing minnows, Difference in their averages is 6.0. Also, notice Azhar's aggregate runs have come down too.


Now let us also exclude SL, WI, BD, Zim:-

Azhar 3545 runs, Avg 38.11
Pujara 4872 runs, Avg 44.29

Difference in their averages - 6.0. But also notice, how Azhar's runs tally have come down even more.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...1;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting


To conclude, Azhar has feasted minnows more than Pujara and that is why his career test average is 42 compared to Pujara's 46. If we remove minnows, Azhar's average further slips to 40 while for Pujara, it is still a very good 46 and Pujara is well ahead in terms of runs tally.

Based on these stats, it is fair to say that Pujara is comfortably a level ahead of Azhar as test batsman.
Click to expand...

Lol...just cherry-picking stats to suit your point.

Why not compare their stats away from home....
 
The only thing that pujara have is grit but he isn't half the Bateman dravid was.
 
How the hell Pujara managed to survive in the Indian team for as long as he has managed is beyond me. Let alone Azhar who often has to fight a lone battle due to very weak batting line (specially before Babar debuted)

Pujara is very very one dimensional batsman and basically stone wall like a tailander and wait for his batting partner to make it easy for him by taking the bowlers on.
 
Pakhs said:
How the hell Pujara managed to survive in the Indian team for as long as he has managed is beyond me. Let alone Azhar who often has to fight a lone battle due to very weak batting line (specially before Babar debuted)

Pujara is very very one dimensional batsman and basically stone wall like a tailander and wait for his batting partner to make it easy for him by taking the bowlers on.
Click to expand...
Agree with this.

How has Pujara survived in Indian team for as long as he did, is beyond me.

Ditto with Rahane.
 
Pujara is an overrated batsman

Averages 27 in England, 29 in NZ, 31 in SA and 20 in WI.
 
shah_1 said:
Pujara is an overrated batsman

Averages 27 in England, 29 in NZ, 31 in SA and 20 in WI.
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Averages 47 in Australia. However overall extremely poor numbers for someone who was touted as successor to Dravid and has got a permanent slot in Indian batting lineup for more than a decade now.

If his returns in away tests is anything to go by, we just wasted more than a decade on this guy! Just not good enough to play for India.
 
MP2011 said:
Averages 47 in Australia. However overall extremely poor numbers for someone who was touted as successor to Dravid and has got a permanent slot in Indian batting lineup for more than a decade now.

If his returns in away tests is anything to go by, we just wasted more than a decade on this guy! Just not good enough to play for India.
Click to expand...

If it was for Pakistan team then surely his numbers would been okay but he is not good anymore for India
 
shah_1 said:
If it was for Pakistan team then surely his numbers would been okay but he is not good anymore for India
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If a team wants to compete in away games, this numbers aren't ok especially coming from a pivotal no.3 batsman.

But yes I agree, these are pathetic numbers for someone who has played as long as Pujara did especially for a test playing nation like India which has always been known for its batting.
 
Should thank him for his services in Australia and retire him.

Vihari probably wouldn't do any worse than Pujara right now. He looks like he's past it.
 
Pujara is a poor mans Dravid, he bats like a coward, never seen him go for it at any point in his career.
 
street cricketer said:
Should thank him for his services in Australia and retire him.

Vihari probably wouldn't do any worse than Pujara right now. He looks like he's past it.
Click to expand...
That Vihari is the only contender for Pujara's place also reflects very poorly on Kohli who failed to groom anyone else.

As it is, Vihari himself looks like a scared kitten.
 
MP2011 said:
I won't put Pujara and Dravid in same sentence, ever!
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Dravid is so under rated, in his final England tour he batted like a dream in one our wettest early summers, conditions for batting were horrible and Jimmy was at his peak
 
Azhar Ali is one of timid player I have ever seen. If there is 10 runs left and 9 wickets down he will rather aim 10 overs to chase the target and giving no. 11 batsman face 3-4 balls per over. The guy is so inspiring and impact-less player. Had Azhar born in India he will not even make India's First class team and will be finished his career in 2nd division leagues.
 
I see many Indian supporters are asking for Pujara to be removed, and honestly, I agree.

His form has dipped massively, he plays too cautiously and if he gets out, he's put the team in a worse position because of how many dot balls he plays.

But then again, with nobody to be his successor, I guess he'll stick around for another two years or so.
 
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