It’s a great time to be Cheteshwar Pujara. Well, Mitchell Johnson thinks so as well. After electing to bat on day one of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, Pujara had drawn some attention. Meanwhile, India started well despite losing Hanuma Vihari to Pat Cummins inside the first session. Surprised to see the name? Well, Virat Kohli had made a few changes to the playing XI heading into the third Test. India not only dropped both KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, but they also made Umesh Yadav sit out as well.
Rock-solid Pujara frustrates the Aussies
As Vihari didn’t find much success at the top of the order, Pujara entered the scene and put Australia on the backfoot. Regarded well for his defensive outlook, Cheteshwar Pujara made the Aussies sweat for his wicket. Early on, he didn’t find fours and was busy keeping the scoreboard ticking with Mayank.
However, after Cummins got Mayank Agarwal out, the pair of Pujara and Kohli hit gears and stitched a 92-run partnership till stumps. On the one hand, Virat was middling the balls like ever before, but on the other, Pujara was happy to contribute within his strengths and limitations. The right-handed batsman though hit six boundaries, he faced 200 deliveries by the end of the day’s play. Meanwhile, at stumps on day one, India stands tall at 215 for two.
Pujara impresses Mitchell Johnson
Having played against each other on a few occasions in the past, both Johnson and Pujara know each other well. Describing Pujara’s run of play on day one as exciting in his terms, Johnson tweeted the India number three is the Test playing run machine.
“Pujara is a Test playing run machine”
https://twitter.com/MitchJohnson398/status/1077801154040352768
Meanwhile, the four-match Test series is levelled at 1-1 at the moment. As India won the first Test in Adelaide, Australia returned in the Perth match, winning it by 146 runs. Also, Cheteshwar Pujara was among the runs in the first Test as well; as he hit his maiden Test ton (123) on the Australia soil.