Cheteshwar Pujara's stint in South Africa started on a disappointing note on Sunday as the senior India batter recorded a golden duck in the Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park, Centurion. In an attempt to defence Lungi Ngidi's delivery that shaped back in, Pujara edged it to Keegan Petersen at the short leg, handing India two successive blows in the second session.
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The 33-year-old Pujara registered his second golden duck in Test cricket and also walked off with an unwanted record under his belt. Known for his old-school approach and immaculate defence, Pujara now has the most ducks for India at the No. 3 position in the longest format of the sport. He went past Dilip Vengsarkar's tally of eight ducks.
The nought has also piled some pressure on Pujara, who has not scored a hundred since January 2019. The right-handed batter made just 95 runs in the recent Test series against New Zealand but was given a long rope with Ajinkya Rahane for the Test series opener in South Africa.
Speaking on Pujara's struggles with the bat, former India pacer Ajit Agarkar said that things would have been a bit different if the experienced batter had spent some time at the crease. He also praised Ngidi for revising his bowling approach after lunch.
"Had Pujara spent some time in the middle, things would have been easier for him. But good captaincy and bowling by the opposition. Ngidi changed his approach.
{{/usCountry}}"Had Pujara spent some time in the middle, things would have been easier for him. But good captaincy and bowling by the opposition. Ngidi changed his approach.
{{/usCountry}}"Ngidi was trying to bowl outswing at the start and the line was also outside off. In this spell, he bowled deliveries that nipped in and trouble the batters. Those two wickets of Mayank and Pujara were crucial for South Africa. India would have been in a commanding position if the opening stand wasn't broken," said Agarkar on Star Sports.
While India lost two quick wickets, KL Rahul looked steady at the other end. He notched up his 12th Test half-century and added fifty with skipper Virat Kohli. At tea, Rahul was batting on 68 off 166 alongside Kohli (19 off 54).
Earlier, Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, who are close friends and play for Karnataka together, stitched a century stand for the opening wicket to put the visitors in challenging conditions, putting the visitors in control during the first session.