Cheteshwar Pujara batted like an Australian at the Gabba: Marcus Harris

Marcus Harris, the Australian left-handed batter, was left awestruck with Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year in January. At The Gabba in Brisbane, deemed as Australia’s fortress, Pujara got scores of 25 and 56, but it’s his resilience in the middle that garnered him praises from Harris, pundits, and the netizens.

During his stay, Pujara copped a few blows on the body, however, didn’t show any signs of anguish. Harris, who was a part of the game, went on to say that Pujara batted like an Australian because of the way he staved off the opposition bowling.

Harris, who made 43 in the match, also had words of praises for Rishabh Pant, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match for scoring an unbeaten 89 in the fourth innings. The 28-year-old Harris put forth his views while speaking on the ‘Cricket Life Stories’ YouTube channel.

Cheteshwar Pujara took everything on the chest: Harris

“The final day was amazing to watch. We were thinking the whole day if they would go for the runs or not. I think Rishabh played the best innings that day, but for Pujara to be copping an absolute barrage from everyone, it felt like he batted a bit like an Australian, taking everything on the chest and getting on with it. The rest of the team just batted around him,” Harris told.

“Rishabh Pant’s innings was unbelievable. Everyone says he has magic in him, and he has shown that a few times now. It was disappointing to lose the series but sometimes in cricket you just have to tip your hat and say they were too good for us,” Harris added.

After being set a target of 328, India lost the early wicket of Rohit Sharma to Pat Cummins. But Pujara and Shubman Gill’s 114-run stand for the second wicket set the tone for the rest of the run-chase.

Gill was unlucky to miss out on his maiden Test ton as he got out on 91. However, Pant’s belligerence coupled with Washington Sundar’s 29-ball 22 made sure that India got over the finishing line and emerge victorious to seal the series 2-1.