Twitter reacts to Cheteshwar Pujara's gritty 179-ball knock

In the Third Test against South Africa, India chose to bat first after winning the toss. This is the first time they are batting in the first innings this tournament. However, they seem to be in a spot of bother yet again. All the batsmen are queuing back to the pavilion one by one.

The openers were dismissed very cheaply. India lost both their openers without even 15 runs on the board. After the early damage, Virat Kohli and Chesteshwar Pujara tried to resurrect the Indian innings. Although they had their moments, they battled hard against all the odds. But Virat Kohli’s wicket instilled back hope to the Proteas. The skipper was dismissed on 54 when India’s total was 97.

After Kohli’s wicket, the man who was the talk of the town, Ajinkya Rahane came into the middle. He looked good before he was dismissed on 9. There were various questions about dropping him in the first Two Test matches. But Rahane coming back replacing Rohit Sharma wasn’t of much worth.

Wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were dismissed cheaply too. Parthiv got out on 2 while Pandya yet again got out for a duck.

Pujara battles hard but succumbs to pressure

Despite all the odds, the ever-reliable Pujara tried hard to go against the tide. After Kohli’s dismissal, he didn’t have much support from the other end. The South African bowlers were firing inswinging and out swinging deliveries at him. They didn’t let him score even a single run easily. It took him 54 balls to get off the mark.

However, he remained very gritty and tried maximising his stay out there in the middle. He was there for 179 balls for close to 6 hours. It looked like India could manage to go past 250 with him out there in the middle. But, a lapse in concentration has seen him throw his wicket away. He saw off all the major threats but fell to Phehlukwayo. He nicked a delivery that was coming in with the angle but just held its line once it pitched. Che was in two minds whether to play or leave and in the end got a feather to it.

Here are the best tweets on Pujara’s 179-ball knock