Cheteshwar Pujara praised Indian batter KL Rahul and called him the visitors’ best batter in the ongoing BGT 2024 Test series against Australia. This came after Rahul top-scored for India in the first innings of the ongoing Brisbane Test.

Rahul scored 84, his second half-century of the series, and mustered 231 runs in five innings.

“Whenever he’s defending or leaving the ball, he’s in a perfect position. He knows where his off-stump is. And even while defending, he allows the ball to come and hit his bat. He’s not going for the ball.

And if you look at the other dismissals, where most of the batters have gone towards the ball. And let’s look at his leave. He’s quiet, he’s very well balanced. He’s covering his off-stump. And he’s looking to play the ball. But once he knows that it’s outside the line, then he’s keeping his bat close to his body,” Pujara said on Star Sports.

“And some balls did nip back in. And he kept his bat there and it edged and didn’t carry. Happened in the previous Tests as well. He’s allowing the ball to hit his bat. And he’s defending with the softer hands, which is a big, big positive there,” he added.

Pujara also said that the 67-run stand between Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja has put India in a better position.

“The partnership between KL and Jadeja was the standout partnership of this innings and now things are looking a lot better. And KL has shown that if you apply yourself if you bat well, it’s a good pitch where you can score runs. It’s not a very difficult pitch where you can’t survive or where you can’t bat.

So, yeah, I mean, it’s just about seeing through that new ball and KL showed that today. And even an important contribution from Ravindra because he was picked as a batter and he showed that why he was picked,” Pujara stated.