By: Sandipan Bose
A few of the deliveries just took off from the good length area. It was enough to put the India batsmen in doubt. On a score of 46 at the loss of three wickets, India would have reposed their faith only on Cheteshwar Pujara.
In the end, it was the Saurashtra batsman who enabled India to repair the early damages. He shared an important fourth wicket partnership with Ajinkya Rahane.
It’s no secret that Pujara has a penchant for long innings and under hot and humid conditions. India needed a batsman of his caliber to stand tall, and he did in grand style.
The fact that he is amongst runs and doesn’t care much about who says what about his batting strike-rate. Pujara displayed gritty batting. He had all the time in the world, and attached a price tag to his wicket.
Relatively, Rahane and other batsmen in Indian team generally bat with a better strike-rate than Pujara, but when it mattered for India, he delivered.
After two half-centuries in the previous Test in Kanpur, the one-down batsmen who is averaging more than 60 in Tests at home, was again at it.
Without Pujara’s experience, India would haven’t managed to stage a comeback on the opening day of the Kolkata Test match against New Zealand. After all, batting isn’t batting all about hitting the ball out of the boundary. It’s also about how well you can defend against quality bowling!
