Cheteshwar Pujara has faced some flak for his innings on Day 3 of the third Test match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Pujara is generally known for his defensive approach to batting and is one of India's most dependable batsmen in Tests. Pujara has faced some difficulty during the ongoing tour of Australia as he hasn't managed to score big so far.
However, Pujara proved to be a rock on Day 3 as he hit a fifty to power India to a score of 244. But the rate at which he scored those runs has attracted some negative attention. Pujara took 176 balls to score 50 runs at a strike rate of 28.41.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting wasn't happy with Pujara's batting as he said that the Indian batsman'ss approach was not right on the third day of the ongoing Test in Sydney.
Ponting also said that Pujara's approach put more pressure on other Indian batsmen and the right-handed batsman needs to be wary of this fact going ahead.
The former Australian skipper was doing a Q&A session on Twitter and it was then that a fan asked him about Pujara's approach.
Answering the question, Ponting replied: "I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners."
{{/usCountry}}Answering the question, Ponting replied: "I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners."
{{/usCountry}}Pujara who registered his slowest fifty in Test cricket was sent back to the pavilion almost immediately after bringing up the individual milestone. Pat Cummins, who bothered the visitors from the very start, got Pujara's crucial wicket and India was sent into a further slump on day three.
India's middle and lower-order failed to get going owing to which, the visitors were bowled out for 244 in the second session on day three of the third Test against Australia on Saturday at the SCG.
As a result, Australia has now taken a lead of 94 runs over the visitors. The second session saw six wickets falling for 64 runs. Pujara and Shubman Gill scored half-centuries for India, while Cummins scalped four wickets.
In the first innings, India had bundled out Australia for 338 in the first innings. Steve Smith top-scored for the hosts as he played an innings of 131 runs while Ravindra Jadeja gained four wickets for the hosts.
(with ANI inputs)