Cheteshwar Pujara scored 123 in the first innings and 71 in the second innings to ensure that India won the first Test down under…
On day one of India’s first Test against Australia, the panic button was pressed as the away side found themselves in dire straits at 41-4. The Indian batsmen crumbled to the pace and swing offered on a decent looking pitch at the Adelaide Oval. Amidst the chaos, there was one man determined as ever at the crease. Cheteshwar Pujara, who was cool as ice, channelled the full force of his abilities to bat through this difficult period.
At the beginning of his innings, there was criticism directed at Pujara for taking up too much time and failing to score enough runs. The lack of urgency was seemingly putting pressure on the other batsmen and forcing them to take unnecessary risks. In hindsight, Pujara’s plan was absolutely perfect. Given the conditions and the Australian bowling attack, batting became easier the longer he stuck around and the opposition began to wear down.
To the pacers, Cheteshwar Pujara left anything outside off-stump and blocked the deliveries coming onto the wicket. Moreover, the patience with which he did this was astonishing – and one could sense the bowlers growing frustrated. Not once did he lose his concentration or give in to the temptation of playing a flashy shot. He was only concerned with playing a proper Test innings and directed his focus towards doing so. Against Nathan Lyon, Pujara used his feet well while padding away the balls which weren’t in line with the stumps. This helped him negate the turn and bounce that Lyon was getting as early as day one.
For his superb effort in both innings, Cheteshwar Pujara is the Man of the Match 👏https://t.co/phBPMXli9F #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/v46RZGbvjM
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 10, 2018
Pujara’s attitude and decision-making are exemplary for the batsmen in both teams. In the Test format, especially when the wicket isn’t the easiest to play on, patience proves vital. Once you’re settled and develop a better understanding of the pitch, the opportunity arises to play your shots and up the ante – which we saw Pujara do in the last part of his innings. It took him forever to get to 80 runs – but then he progressed to 123 in the blink of an eye as he batted tremendously well with the tail and manipulated the strike to perfection.
The top-order batsman’s contribution in both innings was the difference between the two sides as India won the Test by 31 runs. Getting off to a winning start will inevitably give the visitors a huge boost for the rest of the series. Cheteshwar Pujara has been criticized in the past for not performing well overseas but ever since his hundred in England, he’s looked increasingly more confident and resolute in foreign conditions. It’s a brilliant sign for the Indian team as they’ve been highly dependent on Virat Kohli in recent tours and could use another consistent scorer to share the burden.
India register their closest away victory as they win series opener Down Under for the first time. Crisis man Cheteshwar Pujara came to the fore yet again with another Man of the Match performance. More numbers from the Adelaide win. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/vszgctCLqd
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) December 10, 2018
To add to his tally, Cheteshwar Pujara came back in the second innings and scored 71, the highest score by any batsman, to further exemplify his grit and stamina. His performance in this Test was reminiscent of the great Rahul Dravid’s heroics at Adelaide in 2003 – a huge compliment for India’s new number three. That being said, one thing he can improve on is rotating the strike to limit the scoreboard pressure for his teammates. In most games, he won’t be able to anchor the innings till the very end and will require the other batsman to remain calm by his side. Nonetheless, that’s a minor blemish on what was an otherwise perfect display of Test batting as his innings will be remembered for many years to come.