India batter Cheteshwar Pujara got out on the second day of the final match of the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship by shouldering arms to Australia all-rounder Cameron Green. Thus, becoming the second Indian batter after opening batter Shubman Gill (13) to be dismissed in an unusual way.
Advertisement
With India already losing opening batters in the first seven overs, the last thing they could afford right at the start of the third session was Pujara misreading the line of an incoming delivery from Green. Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the seventh over, Pujara departed to the pavilion after scoring 14 (25) with the help of two fours.
Much like captain Rohit Sharma (15) and Gill, the 35-year old player was also looking comfortable against a trio of Australian bowlers at The Oval until his dismissal today.
Cheteshwar Pujara Gets Out Today By Shouldering Arms To Cameron Green
It all happened on the penultimate delivery of the 14th over when Green pitched a ball just outside the off-stump to deceive the right-handed batter. A ball neither too shot nor too wide to be left alone, Pujara’s decision of not offering a shot was always going to be a risky ploy on this particular delivery.
That said, it proved to be calamitous when the ball seamed into him to hit the top of the off-stump. For the unversed, Australia fast bowler Scott Boland had dismissed Gill in an identical way in the afternoon session.
Cheteshwar Pujara County Cricket
Not part of any Indian Premier League 2023 squads unlike all other teammates, Pujara had been playing County Championship Division Two for a couple of months before the start of this match.
Having said that, him spending so much time and scoring so many runs in English conditions hasn’t come in handy for India thus far. Readers must note that Pujara is the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament on the back of scoring 545 runs across eight innings at an average of 68.12 with the help of three centuries and a half-century.
