Cheteshwar Pujara Should Have Rotated The Strike A Bit More: Dale Steyn

Former South African pacer Dale Steyn has opined that the Indian No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara should have been more proactive in his approach and he should have at least rotated the strike to keep the scoreboard ticking during the 2nd day of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

It was a typical Cheteshwar Pujara innings on the second morning and afternoon session as the Indian No.3 took as many as 36 deliveries to get off the mark.

He did that with a cracking square-cut off Neil Wagner and then followed it up with a sumptuous cover-drive.

But, during his 54 ball stay at the crease, Pujara did not rotate the strike even once before he was eventually trapped leg-before wicket by Trent Boult.

Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Dale Steyn said that Pujara should have looked to rotate the strike during the course of his innings.

“You wanna see someone like Pujara, he faced 50 balls, we know that this is the kind of player he is, but I’m sure if he went back and sat with the video analyst, he’d find that there are deliveries where he could have rotated the strike,’’ said Steyn.

“I am sure in all those 50 balls, there was somewhere there he could have rotated the strike and just get that scoring nudge along for himself and the team,” he added.

The legendary South African pacer further added that while you want guys like Cheteshwar Pujara to bat for a long period of time, the latter should try to at least rotate the strike and push along the scoring rate.

“India will be happy that they haven’t lost as many wickets but they would want to keep the scoreboard ticking. You want guys like Pujara to bat long innings but at the same time, you’d want him to score a bit quicker,” added Dale Steyn.

India were in a spot of bother at 3/88 when Pujara was dismissed but the duo of skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane ensured that the Indians did not lose any more wicket and finished the day at 3/146.

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