Pujara double pegs back England

November 17, 2012

IN16_PUJARA

Right-hander hammers classy, unbeaten 206 as India pile up 521/8; visitors struggling at 41/3

conviction that India have found a replacement for Rahul Dravid in Cheteshwar Pujara at number three position.

After all, the Bangalorean belongs to the pantheon of legends and performed consistently for nearly two decades.

In contrast, Pujara is on the budding stages of a Test career that promises a long stint at the top-level and on Friday he offered another hint, scoring a double hundred (206 n.o., 389b, 21x4) against England on the second day of the first Test, leading India to a massive 521 for eight declared.

England were in all sorts of trouble at 41 for three at stumps with spinners R Ashwin, who grabbed his 50th Test wicket in only his ninth Test, and Pragyan Ojha all over them like a bad rash. England are still behind by 480 runs, and they need 281 more to avoid the follow-on.


Cut to Pujara’s effort. The sheer volume of runs that he scored on the day can easily deviate attention from the underlying significance of his knock. Indeed, it requires tremendous amount of stamina and concentration to conjure such an innings, but the knock revealed much more than his endurance.

Resuming from his overnight 98, Pujara took his time to reach the three-figure mark. After playing out a maiden against Graeme Swann, who later went on to claim a five-wicket haul, the Saurashtra man went past the coveted mark, second time in four innings, with a single off James Anderson.

The feat wasn’t celebrated animatedly or by mouthing swear words — a simple wave of the bat and a smile marked the milestone. Subsequent events underscored his desire to carry on and convert the knock into something more substantial, much like his predecessor at number three.

Pujara has always had that burning ambition to score big runs. If you crane your neck back to have a detailed look at his career, you can see some sky scrappers like a triple hundred against Orissa in the Ranji Trophy, two triple tons for Saurashtra in an under-22 tournament, and double hundreds against Maharashtra and the West Indies ‘A’.


However, the England attack is an entirely different beast. Bowlers such as Anderson, Stuart Broad, Swann and Tim Bresnan are tough competitors, demanding higher levels of skills and concentration to score off them.

Pujara proved emphatically that he has both the elements in abundance, and he never let the satisfaction of scoring a hundred hinder his focus. Reaching the landmark seemed to have only liberated him, and his comfort level was quite evident as he stepped out of the crease a few times to Swann, nullifying the turn, however little in amount it was.

Make no mistake; it wasn’t a selfish knock concentrating only on his individual runs. Pujara never left his partners starving for strike. In the company of Yuvraj Singh, who was equally impressive while making 74, Pujara realised 130 runs for the fifth wicket.

The partnership thwarted England’s ambitions for an early breakthrough in the first session. Sensing the touch of Yuvraj, Pujara allowed the Punjab left-hander to dictate terms. As the pair began to impose their game, England bowlers became impatient and their desperation came out in the shape of excessive appealing, and some of them were plain ridiculous.

The burgeoning alliance was snapped when left-arm spinner Samit Patel’s good fortune assisted him to get the wicket of Yuvraj, who lofted a full toss straight into the hands of Swann at long-on. But Pujara was as solid as a rock, and reached his double hundred with a single off Anderson.

This time he allowed himself the liberty of a more vigorous celebration, an extravagant swish of the bat conveying his joy to the adoring home fans. In the process, Pujara also became the sixth Indian batsman to score a double hundred against England, the others being Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswa¬nath, Vinod Kambli and Dravid. Not an ordinary company for sure!

Even with such a huge personal landmark beckoning, Pujara never let his focus waver from building partnerships, the latest on the list was a 66-run alliance with R Ashwin for the seventh wicket that propelled India past the 500-mark. It was just the beginning of the Pujara story then, one would reckon.


Score board

India (I Innings, O/n: 323/4):

Gambhir b Swann 45

(127m, 111b, 4x4)

Sehwag b Swann 117

(209m, 117b, 15x4, 1x6)

Pujara (not out) 206

(513m, 389b, 21x4)

Tendulkar c Patel b Swann 13

(25m, 18b, 2x4)

Kohli b Swann 19

(70m, 67b, 3x4)

Yuvraj c Swann b Patel 74

(183m, 151b, 6x4, 2x6)

Dhoni b Swann 5

(39m, 37b)

Ashwin c Prior b Pietersen 23

(81m, 52b, 2x4)

Zaheer c Trott b Anderson 7

(11m, 10b, 1x4)

Ojha (not out) 0

(14m, 9b)

Extras (B-1, LB-10, NB-1) 12

Total (8 wkts decl, 160 overs) 521

Fall of wickets: 1-134 (Gambhir), 2-224 (Sehwag), 3-250 (Tendulkar), 4-283 (Kohli), 5-413 (Yuvraj), 6-444 (Dhoni), 7-510 (Ashwin), 8-519 (Zaheer).

Bowling: Anderson 27-7-75-1, Broad 24-1-97-0 (nb-1), Bresnan 19-2-73-0, Swann 51-8-144-5, Samit Patel 31-3-96-1, Pietersen 8-1-25-1.

ENGLAND (I Innings):

Cook (batting) 22

(72m, 39b, 4x4)

Compton b Ashwin 9

(50m, 53b)

Anderson c Gambhir b Ojha 2

(6m, 6b)

Trott c Pujara b Ashwin 0

(4m, 4b)

Pietersen (batting) 6

(9m, 6b, 1x4)

Extras (LB-2) 2

Total (for 3 wkts, 18 overs) 41

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Compton), 2-29 (Anderson), 3-30 (Trott). Bowling: Ashwin 8-1-21-2, Zaheer 5-3-6-0, Ojha 4-1-3-1, Yuvraj 1-0-9-0.



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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: India were all out for 242 in their first innings following a stunning battling collapse, triggered by paceman Kyle Jamieson on the opening day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, here on Saturday.

India were steady at 194 for five at tea but lost wickets in quick succession after the play resumed. Jamieson returned figures of 14-3-45-5.

Hanuma Vihari top-scored for India with his combative 55 while Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries.

Virat Kohli's (3) poor run continued while his deputy Ajikya Rahane (7) also fell cheaply.

India lost last five wickets for 48 runs, of which 26 were contributed by last-wicket pair of Mohammed Shami (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (10).

Brief Scores:

India 1st innings: 242 all out in 63 overs. (H Vihari 55, P Shaw 54, C Pujara 54 batting; Kyle Jamieson 5/45, Tim Southee 2/38, ).

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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