Australia vs India 2018: 'Pujara has been Flexible in Altering his Game' - Virat Kohli

Cheteshwar Pujara has been the ‘umbrella guy’ in the team, captain Virat Kohli feels so. After India registered a famous 137-run win over Australia at the MCG, Virat was in all praise for Pujara. Admitting the India number three has improved with time, the captain said Pujara ‘has been flexible in altering his game’. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara hit his 17th ton in the Boxing Day Test.

Pujara altered his technique

Virat Kohli in the post-match conference said Pujara had changed his methods a bit. Though Pujara didn’t have the best of SENA (South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia) tours in 2014/15, he has been among runs on the current Australia tour. The right-handed batsman has scored 328 runs in three games, including two hundreds in the winning cause.

“Pujara has been a lot more flexible in altering his game very quickly. From the last time he played in Australia, he has made a few changes to his set-up, and that’s working for him. He is embracing the fact that if something has been told to him and he has to work on those things, he has worked on it,”

With Pujara at one end, batsmen can play freely – Kohli

Reckoning how much important Pujara’s role has become given India’s bowling lineup, Virat said the other batsmen could play more freely and positively. Furthermore, Kohli said, his (Cheteshwar’s) ability to hold one end can pull off great results for the India National Cricket Team.

“And now that we have the bowling attack that we can rely on to get us 20 wickets and his role becomes even more crucial. If he can bat time and hold one end, and all the other batsmen can bat positively around him, we get 350, touching 400, in conditions in Australia, which puts us in a great position to get a result.

“He (Pujara) realises that even more now. Because of the bowling attack that we have, his job is to hold one end and bat for long hours so that we have a great opportunity to get big runs and put them out of the game. I think that confidence that is seen is because of them (bowlers) and he is embracing that very well,”

India creates history at the MCG

After 41 years, an Indian team has managed to win two games on tour Down Under. Last time, it was under Bishen Singh Bedi when India won two matches, though lost the series (2-3) during 1977-78 tour. However, the current India captain is neither surprised or shocked with the result (2-1).

“We knew we had enough time,” said Kohli on Sunday. “We always knew we could do this. So although we are very happy, we are not shocked or very surprised by what’s happened. We have always believed that it is very possible because of the talent we have in the side and the mindset that we have been carrying in the last 12 months regardless of what’s been said and regardless of the mistakes we have made,”

Moreover, the fourth Test of the series will start on January 3rd in Sydney.