Butt also explained how the mental aspect is hurting Shubman Gill.
Former Pakistan captain and veteran batter Salman Butt has opined on the senior Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara’s struggles against New Zealand in the ongoing first Test of the two-match Test series at Green Park, in Kanpur.
Butt believes that Pujara is not suffering due to a technical issue and said the veteran batter just needed to avoid that short ball, as the right-hander could manage only 26 and 22 runs in the two innings for India in the ongoing first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Butt said: “I don’t think Pujara has a technical issue. He showed some intent while scoring runs in England. But when he decides to play his favorite game, which is to defend even if the ball is there to be hit, then he bats for more than an hour and doesn’t do anything.”
He continued, “Today (Sunday), he scored 22 off 33 balls, so he was a bit positive. Otherwise, he takes 70 balls to score as many runs. Pujara didn’t need to play that short ball but this is what Kyle Jamieson can do. Batters make such mistakes because of his pace and height.”
Meanwhile, Butt also shared his views on Shubman Gill’s failure with the bat in the second innings in the ongoing Test against New Zealand in Kanpur.
The young opener scored a brilliant fifty in the first innings against New Zealand, but Jamieson didn’t allow him to bat for more, dismissing him cheaply for 1 in the second innings, and Butt feels that Gill's mentality of expecting short-pitched stuff is hurting him.
He signed off by saying, “I thought Shubman Gill's technique is very tight but, I think, mentally he is expecting something else. Looking at his feet movement, I feel that he is expecting short-pitched stuff. I don’t know why but this is a mental side of his game that seems rather visible.”