There was a video during India's second innings in the 3rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia that went viral on social media. India skipper Rohit Sharma was seen instructing Ishan Kishan to send a message to Cheteshwar Pujara, who was en route to a valiant half-century, to go over the top for big shots. Pujara did respond in impressive manner leaving Rohit with a smile in the dressing room. But the act left former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh disappointed as he took a dig at the India captain. (India vs Australia Live Score 3rd Test, Day 3)
In the video, an animated Rohit is seen instructing Ishan to send a message to Pujara to go for the big shots. Ishan had later rushed in during drinks break to pass on the message and the India batter responded with a six over long-on fence, but was dismissed a few deliveries later.
When asked about Rohit's act, Harbhajan, in conversation with Star Sports responded by explaining that a batter of Pujara's stature understands the situation better that the one viewing it from outside and hence he should have been allowed to play his own game.
"I don't know what was the actual message sent. If the message was to look to play over mid-on, the player who is inside knows the situation and conditions the best and what the ball is doing. Let him play, let him understand what needs to be done in that situation. No one can judge better than him how easy or difficult it is to hit over mid-on. Watching from the outside, we feel that he can hit above mid-on, but sometimes it does not happen," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"I don't know what was the actual message sent. If the message was to look to play over mid-on, the player who is inside knows the situation and conditions the best and what the ball is doing. Let him play, let him understand what needs to be done in that situation. No one can judge better than him how easy or difficult it is to hit over mid-on. Watching from the outside, we feel that he can hit above mid-on, but sometimes it does not happen," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Harbhajan further added that Pujara has always placed the team's needs above his interest and has responded in such manner previously in his career.
"If there is a situation where a message comes from outside that the team is asking you to do something, Cheteshwar Pujara is certainly a player who will first do what the team needs. If the team needed runs there, he went for that. I think he is more than capable of hitting sixes. An atmosphere has been created that Pujara cannot hit over the top. I think if he wants to do that, he can do it better than a lot of the players. A Test cricketer can become a good T20 player but a T20 player can never become a good Test player. So Pujara's shot did not surprise me," he added.