India vs Australia: “We still have a very good chance of getting 300,” says Cheteshwar Pujara

India vs Australia: “We still have a very good chance of getting 300,” says Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara

India finished Day 1 on 233/6 in the first Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. In what was an intriguing day’s play with the pink ball, India got off to a horror start losing both their openers early before a patient rebuilding process which was orchestrated by Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. India’s seasoned No. 3 batsman Pujara struck a patient knock off 43 before getting out of Nathan Lyon‘s bowling.

It was then the Kohli-Rahane stand that was looking very promising before the former was run-out due to a huge mix-up when he was batting on 74. His wicket opened the floodgates for the Aussie bowlers as they removed Rahane and Hanuma Vihari before the close of the day. Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin remained unbeaten.

‘Still feel we are evenly placed in the Test’ – Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara

Speaking at a virtual press-conference after the first day’s play, Cheteshwar Pujara spoke about India’s position in the match and said, “We are just six down and Ash [Ashwin] can bat, Wriddhi [Saha] can bat and even our lower order will try and contribute as many runs as possible. So we still have a very good chance of getting close to 275-300. If the lower order bats well, you never know – we can get 350 also. Yes, there was a stage where we were in a dominating position but after losing Virat and Ajinkya they have a little bit of advantage. But I still feel we are evenly placed in this Test match.”

Speaking about India’s patient approach, Pujara went on the defensive saying, ““The way they bowled, we had to build a partnership. I felt that even if we take a little more time…I didn’t feel that it was a flat pitch where you can just start playing your shots and keep scoring runs. Even if you look at the entire day, the scoring rate is less than three runs an over. It’s a pitch where you need to give enough time as a batsman and when you get a loose ball, then only can you play shots.“

“When it happens to be a wicket like today, where there’s a lot of help for bowlers, then it’s important to be patient. The bowler has the leverage, where he can also bowl by experimenting a bit. If you have a total of less than 200 then the team struggles a lot overseas. The team’s target is often to reach 250-300 or beyond 300. For that, the starting two sessions are very important in Tests and it’s necessary to bat with patience because the bowler is fresh, the wicket is fresh, and you can’t play too many shots,” he signed off.

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