Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara slammed the Indian bowling attack for failing to bowl short-pitched deliveries to Travis Head and giving him too much room on his favourite offside, as the left-hander hit a blistering 140 off 141 balls to put Australia firmly in the driver’s seat in the pink ball Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After taking a commanding 157-run first-innings lead, Australia reduced India to 128/5 in their second essay on day two, with Rishabh Pant and rookie all-rounder Nitish Reddy at the crease as India trailed by 29 runs at stumps.
“Head’s weakness is short-pitched deliveries, which is well known to the opposition,” Pujara said on Star Sports in his second day’s analysis.
“But we only saw two-three short-pitched deliveries to him… They could have been used more effectively.
“He dominates the offside, so we could have curbed his offside stroke-making and instead of a 6-3 (offside-onside) a 5-4 field placement would have been a good ploy against Head.”
Pujara also pointed out the inexperience of the Indian batters against the pink ball, highlighting how they played too late, leading to a string of dismissals.
“The batters played too late, with most of them getting out because of their inexperience with the pink ball.
“They should have discussed in the team meeting when to score runs and when to play defensively. If 2-3 wickets had fallen today, there could have been a comeback chance, but now it’s very difficult.” Shubman Gill was looking good for his 30-ball 28 before Mitchell Starc angled one in to clean him up.
“The ball comes very quickly. Most deliveries were angled away, and one angled in, which led to Gill’s dismissal.” While India were reeling at 128/5 in their second innings, Pant played a typical counterattacking knock to race to an unbeaten 28 from 25 balls.
Pujara hailed Pant’s counterattacking approach.
“Pant’s counterattack was necessary and unsettled (Scott) Boland with his range of shots. He picked the length well, a good strategy.
“However, he will have a big responsibility. If this partnership reaches 100 or more, India will have a chance. This is the last pair for India, as the lower order is unlikely to contribute much against the pink ball,” Pujara added.
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