Pujara's retirement is a loss..

Pujara’s retirement is less a strategic blow for the teams he represented, Saurashtra and India, for they have already begun transitioning into a post-Pujara era. Yet the grit and resilience that defined Cheteshwar Pujara remain a rarity in today’s game.

More importantly, Pujara’s batting style carried with it a quality that is becoming increasingly scarce: technique. By technique, one does not mean an old-school or retro-styled approach, but rather the fundamentals of footwork as the core of the batting apparatus. Until the mid-2000s, many batters emerging from the Ranji Trophy and making their Test debuts possessed exceptional footwork. They embodied the age-old adage: never bowl to the legs of Indian batters. Their immaculate footwork made life difficult for even the greatest visiting spinnersWarne, Muralitharan, Vettori, or even Giles during the famous series under Nasser Hussein's captaincy.

But as the slow erasure of footwork as a mainstay of batting has taken hold, the game has become more flamboyant. This shift has raised average run rates, with more boundaries struck in place of singles worked against spinners. Ironically, this has also made spinners more successful, capitalizing on the diminished defensive technique of modern batters.

The growing emphasis on T20 performances as a benchmark for national selection even in Testshas reshaped the lexicon of shot-making. Classical batting, with its emphasis on footwork and patience, is giving way to innovation and aggression.

Thus, Pujara’s retirement is as much a technical loss as it is a sentimental one for those who cherish the traditions of classical Test cricket.