Rajkot Test: Centurion Cheteshwar Pujara praises England bowlers
After all, scoring 537 yourself takes the edge off watching India’s batsmen pile up the runs.
Local boy Pujara is poised to pass three figures after the break while Vijay is also closing in on a century, unbeaten on 86 at the interval as England toiled through a wicketless second session of the day.
After a fifth-wicket stand of 62 with Moeen, Stokes’ new partner Bairstow soon announced his intent by hitting leg-spinner Amit Mishra straight for six. All four India wickets were shared around.
By lunch the second wicket duo had added 94 runs for the unfinished second wicket by rotating the strike nicely. Eight of those have come in Asia, with seven in India, so this was the ideal stage for the Rajkot-born batsman.
The beautifully crafted innings saw Pujara play some superb drives, cuts and flicks during his 298-minute stay.
Cheteshwar Pujara must have felt the same way as he scored a ton against England at his home city of Rajkot and at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium which was hosting its first ever Test match.
But in between they showed grit aplenty against some tight and probing bowling, especially from Broad and Chris Woakes to remain unconquered after batting for almost the entire duration of two sessions.
Zafar Ansari (32) then put on 52 runs with Stokes for the ninth wicket, and thus helped take England past the 500-mark in the 143rd over.
He was eventually dismissed just after tea with the score at 517-9.
“We made their spinners bowl a lot of overs, so that’s a good thing”. The India opener, though, took a chance and reviewed the decision.
“The breakthroughs show the importance of keeping going all day, holding in there for as long as you can on a flat pitch”.
Earlier, from 63 without loss overnight, India lost Gautam Gambhir (29) in the second over of the day. But Gambhir’s dismissal only brought Pujara to the crease. Viewers can watch the live streaming of the match HERE. Pujara started off positively as he was scoring off nearly every ball he faced.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay hit centuries as India mounted a steady counter-attack on the third day of a high-scoring first cricket test against England on Friday. With the pitch not offering too much for the pacers, Alastair Cook brought on Moeen Ali as early as the sixth over but apart from slowing down the already slow Indian run rate, the bowler didn’t pose too much of a threat. The all-rounder reached his hundred off 173 balls.
Ben Stokes finally broke the stand in the 92nd over by dismissing Pujara for a 206-ball 124.