England v India 2014 - Cheteshwar Pujara says India hoping to set England a target of 350 in 4th innings
Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has said that the 1st session on day 4 of the 2nd Test match between England and India at Lord’s will decide the direction that the Test match takes. India are currently 169/4 with a lead of 145 runs, and they will need a lead of at least 300 runs to set attacking fields and put England under pressure in the 4th innings.
"Overall, if you see the match is evenly balanced. We just need to bat well tomorrow morning because the first session will be very crucial," Pujara said at the end of the day's play.
"The wicket has begun to deteriorate a little bit. There is some uneven bounce and England will be batting last. So we are confident that we can get them out. But first, it is important for us to bat well tomorrow."
Pujara joined Murali Vijay at the crease on the score of 40/1 in India’s 2nd innings and put on a partnership of 78 runs for the 2nd wicket. Both of them looked completely assured at the crease, making a big total for England to chase in the 4th innings of the Test match look on course.
But all of a sudden, 3 wickets fell in the space of 19 balls to put India in a precarious position in the Test match. Despite the flurry of wickets at the other end, Vijay was rock-solid and showed outstanding judgment in leaving balls even marginally wide of off-stump.
"In Test cricket you should know your off-stump and Vijay has shown tremendous patience in leaving the balls in both Test matches so far. He has been batting brilliantly," Pujara, in admiration of the Tamil Nadu opener, said.
Getting starts without converting them into big scores has been the theme of Pujara’s innings in England. He has got scores above 20 in all 4 innings of this series so far but has made only one half-century from those innings, unusual for a man with 6 hundreds and five fifties in his Test career.
"At times you get good balls and you get out. But I am happy with the way I am batting. My effort is to help the team in whatever way I can. But I should have left that ball today."
As far as the match situation is concerned, Pujara is fairly optimistic, as he is hoping to give England a total close to 350 to chase in the 4th innings. That would need India to rack up a further 200 runs on the fourth day, a difficult task with only bowling all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the tail to follow.
"I think 350 runs should be enough. Ideally anything above 300 can be defended in the fourth innings. The bounce is variable and when I was batting, some balls kept low and some were kicking. It is difficult to say what total we can defend but it won't be easy for them.
"Vijay and MS are batting well with Binny and Jadeja to come, and we cannot forget Bhuvneshwar as well. So, if we score runs, then we can do well," he concluded.