'Played well only for county?' - Twitter unimpressed with Cheteshwar Pujara throwing away yet another start
Pujara opened the innings in the fifth Test against England and got dismissed for 13 off 46 balls.
England and India squared off for the rescheduled fifth Test match in Edgbaston, Birmingham, on July 1, Friday, and India were put to bat first after England captain Ben Stokes won the toss. Cheteshwar Pujara walked in with Shubman Gill to open the innings, and once again in the series, Pujara fell prey to pacer James Anderson.
Pujara was sent out to open today in the absence of their regular openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. And for the fifth time, he was dismissed by Anderson in the series for a ball that was bowled in the corridor of uncertainty. Once again, he has been found wanting for not scoring big after spending considerable time out in the middle.
A new game, new position, but same old story for Pujara
Pujara was dismissed for 13 runs off 46 balls by a delivery that was swinging away from the middle and off-stump line onto the off-stump. Although one might say there was not much the Indian batter could have done but surrender to an unplayable delivery of Anderson, it is the same old story for Pujara.
In the ongoing series, Pujara has scored 240 runs in nine innings with two fifties and an average of 36.36, which does not make too bad a reading for a visiting batter in England. But what is concerning is that, time and again, Pujara has gotten out after consuming a lot of deliveries for scoring only a few runs. It looks as though he spends too much time negotiating the balls and gets dismissed without a big contribution.
An early lunch was called after rains stopped the play after 20.1 overs. Gill was also dismissed by the veteran pacer, Anderson, for 17 runs off 24 balls. Hanuma Vihari arrived at number three and is unbeaten with 14 runs off 46 balls. Virat Kohli arrived at number four and has scored 1* in seven balls. India will be keen to make a comeback and a lot will hinge on Kohli’s shoulders now. Meanwhile, the fans were not happy with Pujara for squandering yet another start.
Here’s how they reacted:
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