What is Cheteshwar Pujara’s diagnosis of India’s batting woes even as Rohit Sharma refuses to call Adelaide a ‘mental scar’ | Cricket News

India skipper Rohit Sharma was asked if the Adelaide loss left a lasting gash on the Indian psyche as Australia levelled the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 1-1. He said it wasn’t that dramatic. “Firstly, it’s not a (mental) scar, it’s just we’ve lost a Test match,” Sharma explained at the press conference.
On Sunday, he might have found hope in scraps of knowledge emanating from Cheteshwar Pujara who told Cricinfo he was happy with the Indian intent, but adding their dealing of back-of-length deliveries was found wanting.
“We didn’t play well enough,” Sharma continued. “So it’s important in this short time that we have before the next Test match just to figure out certain things. It’s still one-all and plenty of things left in this series and definitely a way for us to get back into it,” he added ahead of moving to Brisbane where the third Test starts on Saturday.
Admitting that Australia played better than India at Adelaide and Indian batting needed to buck up, Sharma said, “When you come to Australia I feel the best chance of winning a Test match is putting runs on the board. And of course, when we won the toss, we elected to bat. We knew that there would be challenges. But in the past, where the conditions have been a little challenging, we’ve batted really well to put runs on the board and then try and put pressure on the opposition.”
However both the batting strips and the Aussie bowling have denied Indian batsmen that cushioning, though Sharma said he took hope from the Perth fightback in the second innings where the openers fired and were resilient. “That’s what (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and KL (Rahul) did to get that 200 partnership (in Perth),” Sharma said seeking inspiration.
In the pink ball Test, India were bundled out for 175 in the second essay after not crossing 200 and ending on 180 in the first.No Indian batsman made 50, and the captain reckoned there was much work to do.
In the post-match comments, Sharma had said the team was looking forward to the Gabba Test. “Some really good memories there. We want to start well and play well,” adding at the presser later that batting needed attention. The 37-year-old admitted, “We hope everyone stands up to the challenge. I wouldn’t say worry. If you take out last 5-6 matches, we didn’t bat well enough, I agree.”
On Saturday, 2021 hero Cheteshwar Pujara had pointed out to an interesting pattern talking to Cricinfo. “Their intent was really good. They were quite positive. They forced the bowlers to move their length because they were pitching it up,” he said, before adding, “They played really well, but they forced the Aussie bowlers to go back off length and that’s where I think we didn’t tackle that well. Most of the dismissals from our top order, apart from Yashasvi, KL got out to a ball which was rising a bit, Virat got out to a ball which was back of length. He wasn’t decisive whether to play or leave that ball, and Gil got out to a fuller ball.”
He further added to Cricinfo’s knowledge bank not sparing the middle order, saying, “So we didn’t tackle the back of the length balls well, which is the key, especially with the new ball. With the pink ball and I felt that that middle order could have batted a bit better.”