Cheteshwar Pujara helps Murali Vijay prepare in the best possible manner

The Indian team opted for a different combination in the first Test against England. They had a decision to make on how to accommodate KL Rahul in the playing XI. The man in form deserved a chance and it was assumed that Shikhar Dhawan might have to miss out to give Rahul a shot. But when skipper Virat Kohli revealed the playing XI, Dhawan was there and so was Rahul, the man who sat out for his sake was rather Cheteshwar Pujara.

One of the most technically sound batsmen in this Indian team Pujara has been a different player at home and bats in his own zone but his game against the moving ball has been exposed overseas. He has played a couple of seasons in the County Championship but had poor returns and it continued in the warm-up game against Essex. Considering all that the team believed Rahul was a much better option at No.3 in these conditions and opted for him.

Team India bowled first and it was a magnificent effort. Ravichandran Ashwin got them the first breakthrough, England made a comeback with the partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow but once that was broken in the post-lunch session there was a collapse. The Indian bowlers especially Ashwin and Mohammed Shami were brilliant with their line of attack.

Ashwin concluded the day with four wickets while Shami had a couple and India the hosts 9 down for 285. In the second over of day 2 Shami bowled a couple of inswingers at Sam Curran and then got one to shape away, he edged it and it was wraps on the English innings with just the addition of two runs.

It was now time for the Indian batters to come out and face James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Murali Vijay was preparing for the challenge and it was Puajra who was helping him do that with throwdowns. He made sure Vijay got the best possible preparation before walking out to bat and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar noticed that and put up a video on Twitter highlighting how players help one another in a team sport keeping personal objectives aside.

Here’s his post:

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