Shubman Gill and Pujara. (Photo Source: BCCI)
In order to counter Australia’s mammoth total of 480 runs, India needed a strong start in the middle. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill stepped up and started well but the captain couldn’t capitalize on his start as Sharma was dismissed for 35 runs. Nevertheless, Gill kept on going and brought up his second Test century and his first on home soil (IPL team).
Cheteshwar Pujara, who spent a lot of time with Gill in the middle, heaped praise on the 23-year-old and lauded him for being patient while batting. He also appreciated the cricketer for being defensive against the spinners and playing in an aggressive manner against the pacers.
“He always likes to play his shots. I try and play my natural game. I try and communicate what the bowlers are trying to do. Apart from that, he showed a lot of patience yesterday. He is not someone who will keep defending against the spinners. But if you look at his strike rate against spinners, he was quite defensive. He was trying to take the fast bowlers on. Whenever there was a loose ball, he tried to punish it,” Pujara said as quoted by India Today.
“I always enjoy it. If someone is taking on the bowlers, then I can just rotate the strike, try and play my natural game,” he added.
As a batting unit, you need to play on such pitches to gain confidence: Pujara
Notably, the veteran batter started well but couldn’t capitalize on that, as Todd Murphy got the better of him when he was batting at 42. Nevertheless, Pujara lauded the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium and stated that as a batting unit, it is important to play in such pitches as it provides players with much-needed confidence.
“It’s been a long time to be honest. It’s good to see such wickets because sometimes, as a batting unit, you need to play on such pitches to gain confidence to spend some time in the crease and score big runs,” Pujara added.
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