England vs India: Cheteshwar Pujara’s sportsmanship high point as Indian batting struggles vs Essex

Team India began their preparation for the five-match Test series starting August 1 by taking on county side Essex in a three-day game at Chelmsford, UK, on Wednesday, July 25. They had the worst possible start to the match after Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat, losing two wickets for five runs inside three overs.

But one of those batsmen who got out cheaply, Cheteshwar Pujara (one off seven balls), displayed sportsman spirit that earned him accolades. His gesture reminded of Adam Gilchrist’s famous walking off in the semi-final of the 2003 World Cup.

Pujara, who came in at No. 3 after the early exit of opener Shikhar Dhawan, edged one from Matt Coles to wicketkeeper James Foster, just like Dhawan. But while the umpire was hesitant to come to a conclusion whether the Indian batsman indeed nicked it, the latter walked away himself, confirming the dismissal.

Ajinkya Rahane (17) also didn’t last long and though opener Murali Vijay (53) and skipper Kohli (68) put up a partnership of 90 runs for the fourth wicket, they two also departed within a gap of 13 runs to see India losing half of their side for 147. KL Rahul, the batsman in form, came out to bat at No. 6.

For India, ranked No.1 in Tests, this England series is big. They lost the last two Test series played in England in 2011 (0-4) and 2014 (1-3) after winning the 2007 series 1-0 under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid.

For Kohli, too, it is a series for salvaging some pride for he is yet to succeed the way he does with the bat, in England. The Essex bowlers did trouble the visitors in the three-day game and Team India will have to tighten their stance as early as they can to make the series competitive.

Here is the video of his dismissal:

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