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.



Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassadors of the WTF Sports.

Raina is also joining the brand as a Strategic Partner. WTF Sports, a fantasy sports gaming platform, was today formally launched in India and globally.

The announcement was made through a web conference with prominent cricket host, Vikram Sathaye moderating and hosting the webinar and Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia Co-Founders - India and Global, WTF Sports introducing the cricketers as the Global Brand Ambassadors.

Kaur said it was a perfect fit for her and she can use her strategy and experience while playing.
"WTF Sports was the perfect fit with me, I can use strategy and my experience while playing, I've actually learnt to strategize better as I've played along. Additionally, when we were under lockdown and I couldn't really practice, it was fun to come on the platform and feel like I'm still playing," Kaur said in a statement.

On the other hand, Raina said, "It is exciting to be a part of a fantasy sports platform like WTF Sports not just as an ambassador but also as the strategic partner, it is everything that I embody and what I believe in, it's fierce, fun and competitive."

The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes, and exciting contests, ensuring that sports fans can get more skillful by letting them strategize and use their sports knowledge into rewarding behaviour.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 26,2020

Some of the ICC guidelines on resumption of cricket border on the impractical and will need a review when the cricketing world is closer to action, feel former players Aakash Chopra, Irfan Pathan and Monty Panesar.

Last week, the International Cricket Council recommended a host of "back to cricket" guidelines including 14-day pre-match isolation training camps to ensure the teams are free from COVID-19.

The world body issued training as well as playing guidelines which will drastically change the way the game is played.

Among them are regular hand sanitising when in contact with the ball, no loo or shower breaks while training, minimising time spent in the changing room before and after a game, no use of saliva on ball and no handing over of personal items (cap, sunglasses, towels) to fellow teammates or the on-field umpires.

"Social distancing is very doable in individual sport but very tough in a team sport like cricket and football. If you need a slip during the game, would you not employ it?

"If the team is going through a 14-day quarantine and is being tested for COVID-19, I am fine with that process. Now, after that, if we have more guidelines for the players during the game, then you are making things complicated. Then there is no point of a quarantine period," former India pacer Pathan told PTI.

Safety cannot be compromised but regularly sanitising hands during the game will be too much to ask from the players.

"Safety is paramount but we should not make the game complicated. If a bowler or fielder has to sanitise hands every time he touches the ball, then it would be very difficult.

"You can shorten the process of giving the ball to the bowler. Instead of the usual chain (wicket-keeper to cover fielder to bowler), the keeper can straight away give the ball to the bowler but even then the bowler will have to sanitise hands six times in an over," said Pathan seeking more clarity on the guidelines.

Former India opener Chopra said it is still pre-mature to prepare a fixed set of guidelines for resumption of cricket as the situation is evolving "every day".

"That (regular hand sanitisation after contact with ball) is obviously impractical but my big question is when the game happens in a bio secure environment and everyone is quarantined and tested, do these additional measures make a difference?

"On the field, I can still understand but what happens when you go back into the dressing room? How do you practice social distancing there? So it becomes quite complicated.

"To be honest it is all very premature. Once they get closer to resumption, which will take some time, there will be more clarity," said Chopra.

International cricket is likely to resume in July with England hosting West Indies and then Pakistan.

Bundesliga football league has already begun in Germany behind closed doors and by the time cricket resumes, more sporting competitions would have restarted and Chopra feels that will help cricket decide the way forward in post COVID-19 times.

"By the time cricket resumes, more football would have started after Bundesliga. Cricket can take lessons from there, collect data and ideas and see what is practical and what is not."

Former England spinner Panesar foresees the start of the England-West Indies series making things a lot clearer for the entire fraternity than they are at the moment.

"The 14 day quarantine is very much needed and well done to the ICC for including that. I think we will see resumption of international cricket with England hosting West Indies in July. We might have some practical ideas then, the other countries would also be watching keenly and will learn how to go about it.

"But measures like regular hand sanitising is not going to be practical. May be you could sanitise every one hour but it can't be regular during the game," said Panesar.

While Pathan feels the on-field safety measures will make managing over-rate a bigger challenge for teams, Chopra said no loo or shower breaks during training won't be that much of an issue.

"Training is still controllable. You don't have to be there for a long time but you would still have to use the restroom at some stage. You may avoid taking a shower but you will have to use the restroom.

"I think the idea of these guidelines is to make cricketers more aware that you have to take care of yourself and inculcate habits which are in everyone's interest in the current scenario," added Chopra.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.