'It's not an easy pitch to bat on, happy with the way I batted today' - Cheteshwar Pujara after day one of Chattogram Test

After losing two early wickets of KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, team India were under tremendous pressure in the middle on day one of opening Test match. On top of that, former skipper Virat Kohli too lost his wicket rather cheaply. Thus, the entire responsibility fell on Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant and the former stepped up once again to rescue the Indian team from a humiliating start.

Where the surface was completely favouring the spinners, the 34-year-old built a much-needed partnership with Shreyas Iyer to put India in a healthy position on day 1 of the first Test. The Rajkot-born scored 90 off 203 deliveries before Taijul Islam got the better of him. On the other hand, Iyer finished the day on 82* and will be a key player for KL Rahul and company in the remainder of the innings on day two.

Now, soon after the end of the day’s play, India’s number three revealed how hard it has been for the batters to keep going in the Test. Even though he missed a well-deserved century, Pujara was happy with his performance and also mentioned that there definitely will be a result on this pitch.

“The way I was batting and looking at the pitch - it’s not an easy pitch to bat on. So, I’m really happy with the way I batted today. Sometimes we just pay attention to the three-figure mark but the most important thing is that when you play this sport is that try and put your team in a position where we have chance of winning the game. So, the pitch looks like that there will be a result and we needed some runs on the board. So, I think my partnership with Shreyas (Iyer) was very important,” said Pujara in the press conference after day one.

Rishabh plays his natural game and it’s important for the team: Pujara

After three quick wickets early on, Rishabh Pant was the first Indian cricketer to counter the Bangladeshi bowlers with his aggressive brand of cricket. The southpaw started well but failed to convert it to a big score as the keeper-batter was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan on 46. Nevertheless, the 25-year-old released the pressure of Pujara and that eventually helped the Indian team after the early massacre.

“Rishabh always keeps his strategy very simple. He likes to play attacking cricket and that’s good for us. He can put the bowlers under pressure and that always helps us to build a partnership. He likes to play his shots and courtesy of which, I too get a few loose balls from time to time. I think we always enjoy that partnership because he knows that I am there at the other end. He plays his natural game which is important for the team as well,” the cricketer added.