Cheteshwar Pujara is going through a purple patch right now. After piling up runs in the Duleep Trophy and the Test series against New Zealand, the right-handed batsman has continued his red-hot form in the ongoing England series too. However, there has been a slight change in his batting that has caught everyone’s attention and that is his conversion rate. During the New Zealand series, he got out after scoring fifties thrice before finally converting a good start into a century in the final Test. And it seemed he has learned his lessons from that series and has scored two back to back centuries in the ongoing series.
When the Saurashtra batsman was asked about whether he made some changes to his technique to capitalise on the good starts, he said:“I have not changed much as far as technique is concerned. It’s just the intent. The way I started off against New Zealand I was just missing out on 100s. I spoke to Anil bhai and he told me ‘there’s nothing wrong in the way I’m batting. Probably the area which I can improve is the ‘intent’ and that’s what I worked on.”.
Pujara was joined by his captain in the middle when the hosts were tottering at 22 for 2 but both of them added 226 runs to take India to a strong position. In the process, both of them completed their surprises. But one thing that caught everyone’s attention was Pujara’s batting. Known for playing slowly, the batsman surprisingly outpaced Kohli on various occasions and completed his century with a six over midwicket.
Speaking over that, he said:“Completing hundred with a six was special to me. As I started well in the first Test and getting a century at home was special to me. I just wanted to continue my form and wanted to capitalise.Myself and Virat wanted to build a partnership and it’s a crucial one for the team.”
Pujara hit two sixes during his knock of 119 runs while Kohli, who is unbeaten on 151, has still not hit a single maximum.
When asked about Kohli’s approach, he said:“There was one error where he did not control the pull shot well. The way he was batting and judging the bounce we felt if we could continue rotating the strike it would become easy as we both of us were in control.”
He also heaped praise on his captain by saying: “He (Virat) likes to play his shots. I always enjoy batting with him. He likes to dominate. We just wanted to capitalise on the situation. I enjoyed batting with him.”
When asked about the pitch, he said: “Day one is always good for batting in India. I don’t know how it will shape tomorrow. We are looking to put up a good total. It may turn a bit more from day two.”