Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara feels that India are evenly placed in the Test match after losing a couple of wickets in the final session of the day to end it with 233 for 6.
After opting to bat first, India lost Prithvi Shaw early and soon Mayank Agarwal fell as well. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara rebuilt the innings and Pujara got out for 160-ball 43 while Virat Kohli made 74 but unfortunately ran himself out because of miscommunication with Ajinkya Rahane.
A few deliveries later, Ajinkya Rahane got out as well, leaving India in trouble. At the end of the day, India had R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha at the crease.
Talking about the match after the day, Pujara said that India are still evenly placed.
“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,” said Pujara at the online press conference on Thursday (December 17).
He also spoke about building partnerships and how it would set a platform for others.
“The most important thing we discussed was building a partnership. When you have a big partnership – if it’s more than 50 runs or if it’s close to 100 runs – it always sets a proper platform for other batsmen to put our team in a commanding position,” said Pujara.
“When I had a partnership with Virat, when Ajinkya came in – both of them were cruising and there was a time where we were 190 for 3 (188 for 3). I felt that was a position that we wanted to be in.
“But this is what Test cricket is all about. When you lose a couple of wickets, the opposition has a little bit of advantage. But again when we score some runs tomorrow morning, we’ll be in a commanding position. So you just have to respect this format and we just trying to do that when we were in the middle. Play according to the merit of the ball, and whatever runs we could get out of both sessions. Our game plan was very simple – if we get any loose ball then we’ll try and play our shots but if they are bowling in good areas you just have to respect that,” he added.
