'Have to bat in the manner I know', says Pujara
India's senior batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was amongst the runs on Day 3 of the ongoing SCG Test against Australia. He racked up a defiant half-century as the Australian bowlers continued to mount pressure. However, he was duly criticized for his slow scoring rate, which saw him complete his fifty off 174 balls. Responding to the criticism, Pujara highlighted his batting style. Here is more.
Speaking on his batting, Pujara said, "I am confident about my batting, I would rather focus on the things I need to as a batsman rather than put too much pressure on him getting me out. The way I was batting today, I was really confident. The way I got out today, I have to accept that. I could not have done anything better."
Pujara's patient knock held off the Australian pacers in the first session. He was defensive, yet resilient in his approach He brought up his half-century off 174 balls, his slowest Test fifty (in terms of balls). His previous slowest fifty came against South Africa (off 173 balls, Johannesburg) in 2018. Pujara (50) was soon dismissed by Pat Cummins with a ripper.
Speaking on Pujara's knock, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said that his approach rather put more pressure on other Indian batsmen. "I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners," Ponting tweeted.
Interestingly, Pujara has been dismissed by Cummins four times from five innings in the ongoing series (once at Adelaide and SCG, twice at MCG). He has managed to score mere 19 runs off 129 balls against Cummins (119 dot balls).
Pujara feels the ball delivered by Cummins to dismiss him was the best of the series, thus far. "We are trying our best, but sometimes Pat Cummins has a better idea, sometimes he bowled some of the unplayable deliveries, for example, the ball which I got, if there was any other batter, I felt that was the best ball of this series," he added.
What a ball from Pat Cummins to get the big wicket of Pujara 🔥
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) January 9, 2021
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