India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who often receives flak for his slow batting approach, slammed a half-century full of intent on Day 3 of the ongoing third Test against England at Headingley.
Pujara displayed his class when the visitors were trailing England by 354 runs in the second innings. He added 82 runs for the second wicket with opener Rohit Sharma (59) and completed his fifty in 91 deliveries.
After Rohit’s dismissal, Pujara joined hands with skipper Virat Kohli in the middle and the duo shared an unbroken 99-run stand to take the tourists to 215/2 at stumps on Day 3, still 139 runs behind the hosts.
Following the day’s play, Rohit addressed a virtual press conference and lauded Pujara, saying the innings of 91 not out in the Leeds Test showed his "intent" and "character".
"You are talking about someone who has played 80-odd Test matches. I don't think anything needs to be shown (to him) before Test matches.
"Yes, there are times to go and show all of that but during Test matches, there isn't time to go into the detail of what you are doing and what you want to do as a batter," Rohit told mediapersons when asked if Pujara was shown old video clips of his batting.
"Pujara definitely came with an intent to score runs and this innings of ours was never about survival. We came with an intent to score runs. Pujara clearly showed that. Anything loose he pounced and that showed he had intent in his batting. He showed that any loose deliveries won't be spared," he added.
Rohit acknowledged Pujara’s rough patch lately, before adding that this innings showed his character.
"Of course, of late, the runs haven't come but that doesn't mean that quality of Pujara has gone missing. You must have seen today that it wasn't the easiest of situations to go in when you are 300 odd behind.
"And to bat the way he batted showed the character and mindset of an individual as well. Someone who has gone everywhere and scored runs."
As per Rohit, there is still a mountain to climb for the Indian team and Pujara needs to bat well on the fourth day as well.
"From his perspective, he has done well but the team's job is not done yet. We have a crucial couple of days coming, and hopefully, he can put his head down and keep batting like the way he does."
Rohit feels Pujara’s criticism has been an outside noise as the team very well knows his value.
"To be honest, there haven't been any talks. Talks are happening outside. We know his quality and experience and I don't think we need to have much of a discussion. If you talk about recent performance, yes he has not scored runs but we saw crucial partnership between him and Ajinkya at Lord's.
"Not to forget what he did in Australia. He played those crucial knocks for winning the series in Australia."
Rohit urged people not to have a short memory when it comes to achievers.
"Sometimes our memories are shortened and we need to think what the guy has done over the years. It's not about one or two innings or series," he stated.
(With PTI inputs)
