Glenn McGrath, legendary Australian pacer said on Sunday that Australia have identified a chink in Test specialist mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara’s armour and executed their plans against the star batsman perfectly in the ongoing 4-Test series against India.
Cheteshwar Pujara got out to pacer Josh Hazlewood for the 2nd successive time in the series as he was undone by a nearly unplayable delivery in Brisbane on 3rd day after scoring 25. Glenn McGrath feels Australia have found ‘something’ against the star India batsman.
Glenn McGrath: Cheteshwar Pujara Is Getting Out In Similar Fashion To Very Good Deliveries
Cheteshwar Pujara was caught behind after pacer Josh Hazlewood got one to pitch in the off-stump line and straighten from there in the first innings of the 4th Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday.
Cheteshwar Pujara had to play at the ball but edged it instead to Tim Paine. The closed face of his bat meant the ball kissed the outside edge of it before crashing into wicketkeeper Australian skipper Tim Paine’s gloves. He was one of the many Indian batsmen who got a start but failed to convert it into a big one like Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma all of whom failed to score even 50.
Although most of the deliveries that have got India’s Test specialist batsman out would have got anyone out in world cricket, Glenn McGrath feels there is a pattern developing in the senior batsman’s mode of dismissal.
“Pujara is getting out in similar ways but they are all very good deliveries. They will probably get a lot of right-handers out. They are all around the off-stump,” Glenn McGrath told Sony Six.
“He is (allowing bowlers to bowl there consistently). He is not going to hurt you. If you bowl there, he is not going to score runs. So you can just sit there all day and he will just bat all day and he won’t hurt you. And one just does a bit more and he will be out. The bowlers have to be consistent and have to be patient and get that ball in that right area,” Glenn McGrath added.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the difference between the two sides when India clinched a historic 2-1 win against Australia in 2018-19. He batted more than 1000 deliveries and scored 521 runs, including 3 hundreds. He has managed 215 runs in 7 innings so far with 2 fifties both at Sydney.
Glenn McGrath: Australia Have Been Able To Execute Plans
Pat Cummins have dismissed him 4 times while Josh Hazlewood dismissed him twice and Nathan Lyon once. He had similar dismissals to the ball that straightens after falling in uncertainty corridor.
“I think the Australian team has identified that. They said at the start of the series, that they had plans for Pujara and that back hip comes around, you do square up and probably make those balls look better than they are and I think they have identified something and they have been able to execute the plans and they have got the result they wanted.”
India were reduced to 186 for 6 in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 369. The likes of Rohit Sharma (44), Cheteshwar Pujara (25), Ajinkya Rahane (37), Mayank Agarwal (38), and Rishabh Pant (23) got starts but none of them were able to convert them into a big knock when India needed one, considering the inexperienced bowling unit at their disposal after the series of injuries.
However, Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 60 and Shardul Thakur’s valiant 67 ensured India reaching 319/7 as the team trail by 50 runs in 4th Test. The 3rd day’s 3rd session of play is currently in progress.
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