As the Indian batting-order struggled in the first session of Day 1 in Rajkot against England, Indian fans missed Cheteshwar Pujara, who used to bat out the tough periods and cash in later on.
The third Test against England started off poorly for India. After electing to bat first on a good batting surface, India stuttered to 33/3 in the first hour of play. Ravindra Jadeja, promoted to number 5, walked into bat in only the 9th over of the innings – this is his second-earliest point of entry in Tests and the earliest in the first innings.
India fielded one of their most inexperienced batting line-ups of the past dozen years. With Virat Kohli absent, Shreyas Iyer and KS Bharat dropped, and KL Rahul injured, India’s middle-order comprised Rajat Patidar, playing in his second Test, and two debutants in Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel.
Shubman Gill, at number 3, is a batsman out of form and touch in Test cricket and his century in Vizag had come after he had been given three reprieves. There was no luck today for Gill as he struggled horribly against Mark Wood and James Anderson. Gill got out for a 9-ball duck, edging a length delivery from Wood through to wicket-keeper Ben Foakes.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal opened his bat face a little, keeping his bat hanging outside the off-stump, and edged a back-of-length ball from Wood that angled away from the left-hander to Root at first slip. Patidar checked his shot to a length ball from Tom Hartley that held in the pitch and lobbed a simple catch to cover.
Amid this time of shock and frustration, Indian fans missed Cheteshwar Pujara, a batsman who used to stand like a rock and more often bail the team out of early trouble. Pujara was dropped last year from the side, the WTC Final being his last Test. But with the team struggling for runs even at home and an Australia tour locked in for later this year, fans feel that India should recall Pujara.
He is in great form in the Ranji Trophy, averaging 74 after 6 games.
Fans miss Cheteshwar Pujara after the top-order struggle in Rajkot:
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