England vs India: Adil Rashid takes a stunner to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara

The ongoing third Test between England and India is only in its first day and the visitors are already finding themselves in dire straits. With three wickets down and the three-figure mark yet to be reached, the English bowling seems to be working wonders once again. To top it all, the dismissal of Cheteshwar Pujara via a blinder of a catch by Adil Rashid stole the show in the first session of the match.

Already trailing by a 2-0 margin in the five-match Test series, India would’ve hoped for a consolidating start from its top order. Shikhar Dhawan’s knock worth 35 runs would’ve given the Indians some hope before the landslide began all over again, bringing back nightmarish memories of the Lord’s Test.

Pujara walks back disappointed

With the two openers already back in the pavilion off the bowling of Chris Woakes, the onus was on Cheteshwar Pujara and the Indian skipper Virat Kohli to steady the ship. However, things went downhill with one un-Pujara like shot that the usually calm and composed batsman is never seen playing.

The fourth delivery of the 27th over saw Woakes bowl a short one on the body. While Pujara could’ve chosen to play a thousand and one different shots off the delivery, the 30-year old chose to pull the ball on the on-side and gifted his wicket away into the waiting hands of Rashid.

The leggie on his part, took a stunner as he had to run quite a bit to be able to get into the right position at deep backward square to take the catch. The reaction immediately afterwards was that of absolute shock from the Indian camp. While Indian coach Ravi Shastri was captured by the camera looking distraught, Pujara himself stood at the crease with a look of utter disbelief on his face.

Twitterati had a mixed reaction to this callous shot off the bat of one of the solidest Indian cricketers of recent times. While many lauded Rashid for his excellent display of athleticism, A major section of the cricket followers bashed Pujara for his poor shot selection.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the catch: