India found itself in dire straits with wickets falling in quick succession with only Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill playing over hundred deliveries in the first innings of the third Test at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Pujara dropped anchor and stayed on the crease for 176 balls.

Pujara got to his half-century in 174 balls, which is his slowest Test half-century. He received a lot of criticism from fans on social media for that knock and a debate grew on whether it was the right approach to play his natural way and tire out the Australian bowlers or he should have looked to score runs as a jaffa was always around the corner to take his wicket.

AUS v IND 2020-21: "Go and talk to batting coach", Gavaskar's simple advice for out of nick Pujara

Eventually, that is exactly what happened when the No. 1 Test bowler Pat Cummins bowled one in the channel outside off and the slight movement on the ball took the outside edge to wicket-keeper Tim Paine just two balls after Pujara got to his fifty.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting put a lot of weight on the side of those wanting Pujara to score quicker by expressing his point of view on Twitter while answering fan questions.

A fan asked him, "How do you rate Pujara's initial batting- 16 of 100 balls at such a great surface to bat on? Is that a right approach here?"

How do you rate Pujara's initial batting- 16 of 100 balls at such a great surface to bat on? Is that a right approach here?

— DK (@MaiKhelega) January 9, 2021

Ponting replied saying, "I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners"

I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners https://t.co/2OhmdATvke

— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) January 9, 2021