India vs Australia: ‘His style of play allows the bowler to hone in on a dinner plate,’ Moody on Pujara

India vs Australia: On Sunday, Pujara got a start, getting to 25 before being dismissed by Josh Hazlewood out caught behind, and hence failing to cash in on a start.

Cheteshwar Pujara hasn’t quite been able to replicate his success of the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in this Test series so far. With two half-centuries, Pujara’s form is a stark contrast to the touch he was in during the last tour, which saw him peel off three centuries en route to scoring 521 runs. On Sunday, Pujara got a start, getting to 25 before being dismissed by Josh Hazlewood out caught behind, and hence failing to cash in on a start.

India's Cheteshwar Pujara walks from the field after he was dismissed during play on day three of the fourth cricket test between India and Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard) (AP)

Former Australia batsman Tom Moody raised an interesting point about Pujara’s batting, mentioning how his style, although effective, doesn’t do anything to threaten the bowler or throw him off guard, which in turn, allows the bowler to settle in. And it’s because of this that Australia’s bowlers have been able to get on top of India’s No. 3 batsman in the series.

“One observation I have with Pujara… there’s no question about his quality, he’s a very fine Test batsman. But one thing I will say is that his style of play allows the bowler to hone in on a dinner plate and remain in that competitive length and line, where another proactive batsman is reversing the pressure back on the bowler and they are finding it hard to find a dinner plate,” Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.

“There’s a small sort of window on a very good length and line. So Pujara is never quite forcing a bowler like Hazlewood to or a Pat Cummins off that length because he is resolute on his defence. And if they are allowed to stay in there, the ball is going to just bounce a little bit more, seam a little bit more and his bat is going to be sitting there for that.”

Pujara was one of the many Indian batsmen to throw away a start, including Rohit Sharma (44), Ajinkya Rahane (37), Mayank Agarwal (38) and Rishabh Pant (23), and Moody pointed out that had it not been for the stellar partnership of 123 runs between Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar for the seventh wicket, India would have found themselves staring down at the bottom of the barrel.

"They were saved by the partnership between Thakur and Sundar. If the partnership hadn’t evolved, we’d be talking about the fact that the top order all got starts, except for Shubman Gill and failed to cash in on what was a pretty good batting surface,” Moody mentioned.

“I think we’ve seen today how a good a surface it was at the Gabba and to get a start as a top order batsman in a Test match and get yourself in and not convert to something substantial, is something you do kick yourself for and a number of the top order batsman did that through some indifference strokeplay and you have to give credit to the Australian bowlers.”