Virat and Ajinkya batted really well: Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara has been on the back of some impressive batting form of late. With a string of half-centuries to his name, the 28-year old batsman, however, has gone on to heap praise on the Indian skipper and vice-captain following their massive 300-run partnership. This along with the fact that both of them have smashed centuries justifies Pujara’s praise on them.

“Overall, we’ve got good wickets in the series,” the India No. 3 said at the press conference after the day’s play. “When we are playing in India, we expect the ball to turn. Even on this wicket, there is some turn but I think Virat and Ajinkya batted really well. Hopefully, we have a big total and once we bowl, I think our spinners will get help from the wicket.

“This is just the first day – a few balls turned but there wasn’t too much spin. However, as the match progresses, on Days 2 and 3, hopefully, it will increase. It’s tough to predict now. The left-arm seamer will create a rough, it will help the off-spinners. Hopefully, from Day 2 and 3 – there will be help for the spinners,” he noted.

“Overall, on such wickets, obviously you can’t keep scoring runs at strike-rate above 70-80. You have to play according to the situation, know what the team requires, what number you’re batting at. Depending on all circumstances, you have to bat accordingly,” he reckoned.

When asked about the total the Indians were eyeing in the first innings, Pujara mentioned that the Indians would continue batting irrespective of the total.

“We’ll just try to bat as long as possible. You never know. The kind of position we are in, we’ll look to get at least 400. And then again if they continue to bat well, and if we don’t lose early wickets and if they continued batting like this, you never know…I mean we’ll just keep on batting.”

“I think overall, all of them in the past have done well. Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir – if you look at their records, they are all very good batsmen. There is always a time when things don’t go well. But I don’t think it is an issue for the team because overall Indian team batting is doing really well.”

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“I don’t know if we could have done it a whole lot different with the ball,” Neesham said. “We stuck at it well. Seamers had a tough job with not a lot of bounce or lateral movement. If you can’t get the ball reverse-swinging, it’s difficult for their quality batsmen. Keeping the run rate below three was a good achievement. A couple of quick wickets tomorrow(sunday), and we’re still in the game.”