Cheteshwar Pujara, the lone Indian batsman to attain a fifty in the complete third Test, has no hesitation in terming the Holkar Stadium pitch as a “difficult pitch to bat on”. Pujara as soon as once more confirmed his steely resolve, scoring 59 off 142 balls earlier than being caught by rival captain Steve Smith diving off Nathan Lyon to catch him off guard.
He stated, ‘It is a troublesome pitch to bat on. It’s not straightforward, you should depend on your defence, ensure that you should go to the pitch or play on the backfoot if it is brief. 75 lead for the hosts.
Lyon took eight wickets for 64 runs and folded India for 163 runs.
While the full doesn’t look defendable, Pujara is hoping towards hope.
Pujara advised Star Sports after the tip of the day’s play, 75 is probably not a lot, however there’s a likelihood.
Asked in regards to the technique on this observe, Pujara stated that one must have an acceptable assault as he confirmed by hitting certainly one of his rarest sixes in Test cricket towards Lyon.
“You should assault and defend on this pitch, Mix. If you proceed to defend, a ball will bounce and hit your glove. My goal was to be a bit extra constructive, try to rating as many as potential. Pujara regretted that he did not have a fantastic partnership with the in-form Axar Patel, who ran out of companions in direction of the tip.
“If there was a bit extra partnership with Akshar, it may have helped. I’m studying a couple of extra tips, if there may be demand, I feel as an alternative of taking part in numerous dot balls, when you can take a couple of possibilities, you may rating runs. Now I’m assured that I can play that shot every time it’s required.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
