Cheteshwar Pujara has openly criticised India’s batting performance in the Adelaide Test, highlighting massive concerns about the team’s approach and individual performances, particularly focusing on Virat Kohli’s current batting form. He has averaged less than 25 so far this year, despite rollicking a century in the last game in Perth.
Virat Kohli has himself to blame?
Despite Kohli’s century in Perth, he continues to struggle through what many consider the most challenging phase of his illustrious career. Across formats so far, Kohli has made just 600 runs at a lull average of 23.07, his lowest-ever. In the ongoing Test match, Kohli managed just seven runs before getting dismissed against Mitchell Starc. Owing to this, Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara had his fair share of suggestions for Kohli.
Pujara didn’t hold back in his criticism. He advised Kohli to learn from Australian batters like Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne. “You can’t play a shot on every ball,” Pujara said. He pointed out that Kohli could have easily left the ball that got him out. On the other hand, Australian batters Nathan McSweeney and Labuschagne showed great application to weather an early storm against the likes of Bumrah and company.
“I think Virat should learn from Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne, as the two left a lot of deliveries, which helped them to score runs. You can’t play a shot on every ball, and Virat could have easily left the ball that took his wicket. He knows the pink ball comes faster than the red ball, and even the bounce is more. The two Aussie batters were smart to choose the scoring deliveries, and if anything was pitched up or was short, they left it,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on Star Sports.
More on IND vs AUS
Kohli’s current form is a big worry for Indian cricket fans. In the Adelaide Test, he scored just 7 runs before getting out. This continues a difficult time in his batting career. While he is still India’s moder-day great, Kohli is struggling to maintain his previous high standards.
The pink ball makes cricket more challenging. Pujara explained that the ball moves faster and bounces differently. Good batsmen, like the Australian players, choose their shots carefully. They know when to play and when to leave the ball.
“They went to back of length. They started bowling betweem 6 to 8 meters and that’s where we lost a couple of wickets in the middle order. KL Rahul and Virat, both of them got out two back of the length deliveries. And the line was still just over 4th stump, which was an ideal line on this pitch. So I found that I know we could have batted a lot better on this pitch, where we had partnerships, but after one partnership, we kept on losing wickets,” Pujara concluded.
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