Cheteshwar Pujara may have been the joint top-scorer for India in the first innings of the third Test but it doesn't shield him from criticism. He was slammed for a turtle-paced knock on the third day of the match at Sydney.

Pujara scored his slowest Test fifty off 174 balls which broke his previous record of a half-century in 173 deliveries against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2018.

Commenting on his innings, former Australia skipper Allan Border said that the Indian batsman was playing to survive rather than keep the scoreboard moving.

Border also went on to say that Pujara was almost "scared" to play a shot.

"He's almost scared to play a shot, isn't he? He's playing to survive rather than looking to score," Fox Sports quoted Border as saying.

Under Virat Kohli’s leadership, India won their maiden Test series on Australian soil in 2018-19 and Pujara was the hero with the bat in that series, scoring 521 runs at an average of 74.72 with three centuries.

But in the ongoing series, the Saurashtra right-hander has been struggling against Australia's pace attack. He has been dismissed four times by Pat Cummins.

"He's not had quite the same impact this series (as 2018-19) in that he's taken so long to score his runs, it''s like he's stagnated at the crease and it has had a bit of a ripple effect through the Indian batting. They can't seem to get on top of Australia's bowling," said Border.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting also criticized Pujara for his sluggish knock, saying that his slow approach turned the tables in favour of the hosts on Day 3.

"I think (Pujara) has got to be better than that. He's 16 off his first 100 balls with no boundaries. That is -- and I don't care who you are -- if you're at the other end and someone is batting like that, so much more pressure comes back on you," cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.

"Because you know you have to be the one that's going to keep the scoreboard ticking over (and) trying to get some momentum going your way as a team," he added.

"If you're going to play that way and bat that long, he's got to back himself to make sure he gets 100, 150 at least. To bat like he did today, finally get a great ball from (fast bowler Pat) Cummins, although he got 50, he just hadn't hurt the Australians at all," he continued.

(With ANI inputs)