Veteran Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara’s poor run of form continued as he suffered another failure in the ongoing England tour on Thursday (August 12) and former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels the latter is succumbing to the growing pressure.
Pujara could score mere nine runs in the ongoing second Test against England at Lord’s. On Day 1 of the ongoing second Test, the right-hander never looked comfortable in the middle as the red cherry went past his bat on several occasions and eventually James Anderson sent him back to the pavilion after just 23 deliveries.
On the penultimate ball of the 50th over, Anderson bowled a hefty in-swinger which left Pujara upset and in doubt what would happen on the next delivery, and the veteran made the mistake of pushing out and edged the ball to the third slip and Jonny Bairstow took a juggling catch to end his innings at.
Kaif said on Sony Sports, “It is clearly evident that Cheteshwar Pujara is under pressure. He is counting his innings which he should not be doing but it is not that easy. You can praise the bowler but I feel Pujara throwing his bat away from his body on this pitch was a big mistake.”
He further added, “This time the ball was outside the stumps but he is mostly getting out through the outside edge. The last innings he played, it was a ball within the stumps, the bowler was the same, the ball pitched and went out, there also the outside edge.”
Pujara was caught behind of Anderson in the first Test and the 40-year-old said his mode of dismissal suggests that there is doubt in his mind due to the lack of runs from his willow.
The former batsman further explained, “Here it was far away from the stumps. When your footwork doesn't work and if a player like Pujara starts playing balls outside the off-stump, it means there is doubt in his mind about his one or two innings and players waiting in the wings.”
Kaif signed off by saying, “There was a long gap between bat and pad. When Pujara is in form, he plays close to the body and that is his strength. He is not an attacking batsman, he scores his runs by tiring you out. His defense is his strength.”
