Cheteshwar Pujara reveals the reason why he took time to shift gears in 2nd innings against SA

Team India registered a 203-run win in the first Test against Faf du Plessis-led South Africa. In first innings, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal stole the limelight with their tons. But, in the second innings, the talk was more about Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara’s partnership for the second wicket.

The duo registered a 169-run partnership, which was dominated mostly by Rohit Sharma at the start as it took some time for Pujara to shift his gears. It took 60-plus balls for the No.3 batsman to get on to the right track and score quick runs. The Indian opener went on to score 127 runs while Pujara ended up with an 81-run knock in the 2nd essay.

When asked about his slow start, Pujara admitted that he took extra time to shift gears as Rohit was scoring shots from the other end, “When I had gone to bat and when I saw Rohit playing his shots, I thought that we were scoring at a good pace. The only reason why I was able to take extra time while batting was because of the way Rohit was batting and playing his shots”, said Pujara as quoted by Republic TV.

Pujara hails Rohit’s twin tons

After witnessing major part of Rohit Sharma’s knock in the second innings from the non-striker’s end, Pujara disclosed that Rohit played a few unbelievable shots on the Vizag wicket and wanted to take a few tips from the hitman to improve his limited-overs record.

“No other batsman could have played such shots on this wicket and that partnership between lunch and tea was very crucial. As a Test batsman who wants to improve his ODI and T20 cricket, obviously there is a lot to learn from him especially when it comes to hitting the ball out of the park which I obviously admire and I will obviously have a chat with him when I am playing the shorter format”, he concluded.

Cheteshwar Pujara last played an ODI for Team India in June 2014 against Bangladesh. It would be tough for the dependable Test batsman to make it to the current Indian ODI set-up as there are many youngsters waiting for the chance to make it to the limited-overs side.

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