Cheteshwar Pujara vs Rahul Dravid: Statistical Comparison Of Test Careers

Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid [Source: AFP Media]

Cheteshwar Pujara's retirement from cricket provides the perfect opportunity to evaluate his legacy against one of India's greatest Test batters and a player whom he considered his idol, Rahul Dravid. Both these batters were representatives of the old school of cricket, the pillars of their game being patience, technique and resilience.

Although the fans often considered Pujara the reincarnation of Dravid, statistical analysis reveals profound disparities in their careers. While Pujara's contributions to India's overseas renaissance deserve recognition, the numbers paint a picture of two batters operating at distinctly different levels of excellence.

Cheteshwar Pujara vs Rahul Dravid: Overall Test Career

A look at the numbers only reveals the supremacy of Rahul Dravid across every metric. Dravid accumulated 13,288 runs in his Test career, nearly double Pujara's tally, and achieved this with a significantly better average.

The century conversion rates of the two batters also reveal the difference in class between them. Dravid covered 12.6% of his innings in centuries, while Pujara's 10.8% Test innings got converted into three-figure marks. This shows that Dravid had a better consistency of playing big knocks than Pujara.

Cheteshwar Pujara vs Rahul Dravid: Home vs Away Performance

This comparison reveals that while Pujara did better at home, Dravid was a better batter away from home. Looking closely at the numbers, we can see that Rahul Dravid scored nearly two runs more per innings away from home. So, it basically shows that he maintained more or less the same level of excellence irrespective of conditions, while being slightly better away from home.

On the other hand, there is a drop of about 15 runs per innings for Pujara when it comes to scoring runs away from home. This clearly points out the fact that Pujara enjoyed the home conditions much more than away.

Rahul Dravid vs Cheteshwar Pujara: Performance by Opposition Quality

When we compare the performance of the two batters against the major Test-playing nations, we see that Pujara's record appears more respectable when considering overall performance against teams rather than venue-specific statistics. Coincidentally, both the batters struggled against South Africa.

Rahul Dravid vs Cheteshwar Pujara: Match Situation Analysis

Dravid's brilliance in the second innings of a match exemplifies that he was generally unfazed by what the opposition had done in the previous innings. His average is actually one of the finest second-innings numbers in Test history.

While both the batters have similar numbers in the third innings, Dravid did significantly better in the fourth innings of the match than Pujara.

Also, if we calculate the standard deviation of averages of the two players across different innings, we find Dravid has a standard deviation of 8.85, while Pujara's is around 7.11.

This reveals that Pujara's performance varied less than Dravid's based on the match situation. However, the peaks of the former being much higher than those of the latter, reveal that Dravid was a more spectacular performer and match-winner.

Cheteshwar Pujara vs Rahul Dravid: Match Result Performance

Rahul Dravid showed excellence in India's wins and draws during his time, averaging nearly 65 in both cases. These figures suggest a batter who elevated his performance and sometimes transcended his abilities when the team needed leadership.

Pujara's numbers are also evidence of a batter who contributed significantly in terms of positive results or saving the game for his team. But Dravid's peak, once being higher, represents a much more impactful batter.

Conclusion

Pure statistical evidence presents an unambiguous verdict. Rahul Dravid's career represents a paradigm of consistency, adaptability, and excellence that was out of Pujara's reach.

However, stats do not always reveal the whole truth. These two careers represent two different eras of Test batting. While Dravid is a great of the game, Pujara's contributions to Indian cricket, especially in his recent overseas Test performances, also deserve recognition and acknowledgement.

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