India will bounce back, says Pujara
Bengaluru, March 5 (IANS) Australia may be in a dominant position in the second cricket Test, but experienced Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara is confident that the hosts will bounce back.
Australia posted 237/6 in their first innings by the end of the second day’s play at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
The visitors have opened up a 48-run lead over the hosts who were dismissed for 189 runs in their first innings on the opening day.
“We are very much in the game. Once we get some runs on the board and we have already seen that the ball is keeping a bit low. We will first have to get four wickets. Once we get that we will have to bat well and put up a decent total on the board,” Pujara told reporters.
The 29-year-old right hander praised the Indian bowlers for their performance, picking out pacers Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma for special mention.
Both Indian pacers had bowled well throughout the day, picking up a wicket each. Umesh in particular, was impressive during an eight-over spell during the morning session and was unlucky not to bag more wickets.
The Australians had struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking throughout the day, specially in the morning session which yielded just 47 runs over 29 overs.
“We bowled really well throughout the day. Specially our fast bowlers. It wasn’t easy for the fast bowlers. The odd ball was staying low but at the same time they were putting in a lot of hard work,” Pujara said.
“We could see the scoreboard where they were not being able to score too many runs. So in a way it was a victory and we bowled tight lines. Even the lengths were good from the fast bowlers. So overall we bowled really well but at the same time we got only six wickets. But they have not scored many runs.”
Pujara also dismissed suggestions that the Indian players are tired after a long season during which they faced New Zealand, England and Bangladesh before the current series.
“We have had enough breaks in between. I don’t think it was a long season. We have won so many matches apart from the last game. We will come back stronger in this Test match and in this series,” the Saurashtra batsman asserted.
“We will focus on bowling the correct line and length and wickets will come.”
