India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara hasn't been in form lately and he failed once again in the first Test against England. Pujara was out on a duck in the first innings when India was looking to capitalize on the 97-run stand by the openers.
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg feels Pujara needs to work on his footwork in England to avoid dismissal like in the first innings by James Anderson. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Hogg said the ball is more likely to find Pujara's outside edge with his feet not going far forward.
“I felt Cheteshwar Pujara on this particular wicket wasn’t moving his feet and wasn’t getting to the pitch of it, and, with the ball moving like it is, if he not going to get far forward, he is going to be a sitting duck in a sense, where they (bowlers) are going to find that outside edge of Pujara’s bat quite a lot," he said.
Pujara scored only 133 runs in 6 innings against England at home. He later failed in both the innings of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand.
Hogg backed Suryakumar Yadav to be an alternative to Cheteshwar Pujara at number three for India in the coming matches. Suryakumar will be available for selection after the second Test.
“After KL Rahul’s performance in Nottingham, and if India are worried about Pujara… they wanted to open with Mayank Agarwal in the first Test. But because he had a bit of concussion, they didn’t allow him to play in that particular fixture."
"I would have thought that Rahul opening the batting and Surykumar Yadav coming in at No. 3 can be an option, just to add a little bit of variety. Suryakumar Yadav plays with a little bit of flair. He has a lot of differences in the way that he goes about the game. Just that point of difference may be able to put the opposition bowlers off their line and length," he added.
The ex-Aussie cricketer further said that Suryakumar can come good against the less experienced bowlers like Ollie Robinson and Sam Curran if given a chance.
“Anderson and Broad have got a lot of experience. But for someone like Robinson or a Sam Curran, who don’t have that experience at the Test level, Suryakumar Yadav could put those two off their game and allow a little bit more ease in that middle order as well. He could be a good option coming in at No. 3 if Pujara doesn’t deliver what he does on Indian soil and around the globe as well."
