The struggling Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara who came with a brilliant knock of 166 runs in the Duleep trophy game against India Green says that it is very difficult to spot googly under lights and picking up the seam is also a difficult task,
“Even when I was facing spinners, it was very difficult to pick the googly under the light, a little difficult to pick the seam on the pink ball.
“This was my first game with the pink ball. I enjoyed batting on this wicket. There wasn’t much help for the fast bowlers. The most difficult session was the third session [on the first day], under lights, when they took the second new ball. It moved around and came on faster.” said Pujara.
Pujara came to the crease in the second session of the first day when Gambhir ran out himself by running for the second suicidal run. Pujara played brilliantly for the last two sessions and was on a score of 63* at the stumps. He continued his brilliant run on second day’s play adding 103 runs more to what he scored on day 1.
The India Blue lost two wickets at end of day 1 but Pujara stood there like a wall. He got support from the fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun who came in as a night watchman. Both added 68 runs for the fourth wicket. After Mithun’s dismissal Dinesh Karthik joined Pujara in the middle, both went onto to further torture the India green bowlers sharing 108 runs amongst themselves.
Pujara century was not the only century on day 2 as his state teammate Sheldon Jackson also scored a century before being dismissed for 105 off just 114 balls. His knock included 5 sixes and 7 fours.
“The wicket was good and the ball was coming on nicely. When the new ball comes, it gets difficult [to sight it] because of the speed changes, the ball skids on at good pace, so making the minor adjustment takes a little bit of time.
“Every match I score is important, but to score in such matches is very important because it is live and people are watching. It [the surface] should behave a little differently on days 3 and 4. Both the sides [of the ball] are scuffed up a little bit.” said a delighted Jackson.