INDIA’S HIGHEST SECOND-WICKET STANDS
Batting in familiar conditions, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay put up a solid performance on Friday to dent some of the confidence England had gained over the past two days.
The duo batted with authority, during the partnership of 209, to prove that the domination of bat over ball in the opening Test has more to do with the conditions at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium than skill.
Vijay made 126 and Pujara smashed 124 as India reached 319 for four at the end of the third day’s play.
Made to toil, England had some late cheer when they took two wickets at the stroke of stumps. Trailing by 218 runs, the pressure is not completely off India. They need skipper Virat Kohli (batting 26) and Ajinkya Rahane to emulate the secondwicket pair for any chance of putting pressure on the visitors.
IDEAL FOIL
With their sixth 100-run partnership, Pujara and Vijay became the most prolific pair in Indian cricket in the last 10 years. Ever since they put together a 370-stand against Australia at Hyderabad in 2013, the two Test specialists have complemented each other well. Friday’s innings was their second-highest, taking their partnership aggregate to 2081 runs.
As the England bowlers will vouch, the two have their roles defined. Having a similar mindset, they love to bat long. When one is attacking, the other plays second fiddle.
An example of their understanding was seen when Pujara was given out on 86 off left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari. Vijay immediately signaled for DRS, and Pujara survived. Different styles It was a typical
Vijay innings ENGLAND (FIRST INNS) INDIA (FIRST INNS) 537 where he took the responsibility and held one end up. He batted at his pace, not getting into a competition with Pujara, who scored at a quicker rate.
Pujara showed mental fortitude to handle the pacers, while displaying footwork and technique against the spinners. He took the pressure off Vijay early by dealing in boundaries. It was Pujara’s second successive hundred and third versus England.
INSIPID BOWLING Though they picked up two late wickets, it was an unimpressive performance by the visitors. Except for two fiveover spells by Chris Woakes (first spell of the day) and Stuart Broad (post-lunch), the England attack failed to make an impression. P FRABRACE, Eng assistant coach CHETESHWAR PUJARA, after scoring his ninth Test century
The most fascinating period of play was when Woakes shook up Pujara with a barrage of short balls. Woakes hit the batsman’s helmet thrice during a spell of 5-2-6-0, but Pujara was resolute.
During his spell of four maidens in five overs (5-4-1-0), Broad set up Vijay nicely but Haseeb Hameed dropped the catch at short cover with the batsman on 66 and the total at 190 for one.
The pacers couldn’t get reverse swing going, and probably James Anderson, at his best, could have made the difference.
Experienced spinner Moeen Ali’s inability to control the flow of runs was a setback. Captain Alastair Cook had to take him off after four overs and didn’t bring him back until the 68th over.
HOSTS STRONG REPLY
The hosts’ strong reply also took some sheen off England’s 537, as India batted in tougher conditions. They had a big total weighing on the mind and the wicket was helping the spinners more --- the cracks had widened and there was uneven bounce.
Being a typical subcontinent wicket, batting is going to get more challenging with wear and tear. The spinners have started to come into play more, as was seen in the last two overs on Day 3.
On this track, one wouldn’t get out but for anything silly, and the keyword is patience. Kohli and Rahane will need loads of it to make the game safe. Runs Partners Rahul Dravid/Gautam Gambhir Cheteshwar Pujara/Murali Vijay Farokh Engineer/Ajit Wadekar Sanjay Bangar/Rahul Dravid Farokh Engineer/Ajit Wadekar Venue Mohali Rajkot Mumbai 1972-73 Draw Leeds Leeds Season 2008-09 Draw 2016-17 Awaited 2002 1967 Result India won India lost RAJKOT: RAJKOT: Arvind Pujara stood a proud man at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground on Friday. It was the realisation of his dream which had started to take shape in 1998 when he gave his son his first lessons in cricket. “The first batting lessons I gave him was in 1998, at the Railway ground here,” said Arvind, minutes after his son had walked back to a standing ovation for scoring a century.
“Naturally, it feels good he has got a hundred playing at his home ground. What was most fulfilling was that he was in full flow right from the start,” said Pujara Sr, himself a former Saurashtra Ranji player. On way to his ninth Test hundred, the only period of play which would have caused some anxiety to the father was when Woakes hit Cheteshwar thrice on the helmet in quick succession.
When you go the whole day with two wickets, to get two at the end is a real bonus. I think it’s perseverance to stick to a very disciplined way of bowling all day. We bowled to two outstanding batsmen ... on a very good cricket pitch. Today we stuck to a very disciplined way of bowling, our seamers have done a fantastic job in difficult conditions. We are also really pleased with the way our spinners have bowled. They took a bit of stick in Bangladesh for not sticking to line.
Pujara Sr analysed it just as a coach would. “I think the wicket was slow so Chesteshwar was finding it difficult to judge the bounce.”
His son went into tea at 99, but there were no nervous nineties. “I knew Cheteshwar will not try to bat differently to get to 100. I was assured about it but cricket is a game in which anything can happen on one ball. What I liked was he was he was middling it well. People would have enjoyed watching it.” ARVIND PUJARA, on son Cheteshwar’s approach to century
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I was hoping to get a double hundred. My thinking was because they had so many runs on the board, I did not just want to score a hundred. If I got a double hundred that would have helped the team. They bowled good lines, when the ball started reversing it was tough. I knew he will not try to bat differently to get to 100. I was assured about it but cricket is a game in which anything can happen on one ball