Australians Aren't Fazed Even If Cheteshwar Pujara Goes On To Play 200-300 Balls: Pat Cummins

It seems like Australia’s bowlers have cracked the code to bowl to India’s number three Cheteshwar Pujara, who played an integral role in the 2018-19 series. Cheteshwar Pujara slammed 521 runs in four Tests the last time India visited Australia and the right-handed batsman deservedly took the man of the series award in a victorious effort. Australia’s speedster Pat Cummins, who has dismissed Pujara four out of five times in the ongoing rubber, wanted to make it as hard as possible.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s form has been nowhere near the one which was a couple of years ago when he managed three centuries. The Saurashtra batsman’s highest score in the current series is 50 which he made in the first innings of the third Test in Sydney. Pat Cummins broke the 32-year old’s vigil of 176 deliveries as India slid down after that. The visitors found themselves on the back foot after the third day as Australia remained ahead by 197 runs.

Pat Cummins highlighted the assistance he got from the pitch but concedes that bowlers have to bowl a lot at him. The 27-year old revealed that the team wants to make Pujara’s run-scoring as challenging as possible and keep coming at him relentlessly. Cummins stated that fortunately, their plans have worked so far.

“Today I got a bit of assistance from the pitch. But he (Pujara) is someone you know you are going to have to bowl a lot at. We got our head around that this series, for him to score runs, we are going to make it as hard as possible, and whether he bats for 200-300 balls, we would just try and bowl good ball after good ball, challenge both sides of his bat, and fortunately, so far it has worked,” Cummins said in a virtual press-conference.

I don’t think I could have survived that ball which kicked from back of the length: Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara reflected on his dismissal, claiming that it was one of the best balls in the series, mentioning that he could not have survived that no matter what. The right-handed batsman commented that Cummins forced him to play the ball, which had extra bounce, and that it could have got any batter.

“The ball which I got was one of the best balls of this series. I felt I couldn’t have done anything better, even if I was batting on 100 or double hundred, I don’t think I could have survived that ball which kicked from back of the length. “I had to play that ball. There was extra bounce. So it was just one ball which was really good and unfortunately I couldn’t get away from that. You have to accept it. That delivery could have got any other batter,” Pujara stated.

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