"Looks like he has lost his mind... his technique" - Michael Vaughan slams Cheteshwar Pujara after yet another failure
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was critical of Cheteshwar Pujara, suggesting the Indian Test specialist batsman seems to have lost his technique entirely. Vaughan felt that Pujara's sole intent at the crease was to survive rather than make runs.
Cheteshwar Pujara has been struggling for consistency for a couple of years now. He has averaged less than 25 in Tests since the start of 2020. He was once again dismissed cheaply on Day 1 of the third Test, nicking an out-swinger from James Anderson to Jos Buttler.
Speaking on BBC’s Test Match Special podcast, Vaughan stated that Pujara looks “all at sea”. He said:
“Pujara looks all at sea. Looks like he has lost his mind, lost his technique. Looks to me like he is playing purely for survival. And Jimmy found the outside edge of Pujara. And then it’s just pressure. The ball was swinging around nicely.”
Vaughan added that the Indian batters did not show any intent against the moving ball. Their sole motive was to survive, and that led to the batting collapse, with India getting bowled out for just 78.
“I felt India got stuck in a bit, particularly Rohit Sharma. He is such a good player. He was almost playing just for survival. Jadeja played for survival. We are looking at Rishabh Pant, he played like a half and half shot. That’s not Rishabh.”
“You can’t just arrive and play and just think that you’re going to have a good day” - Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan was critical of India for not showing any desperation to perform on Day 1 of the third Test against England. He felt that Virat Kohli and co. came out to Headingley and expected things to just happen rather than work for it. He explained:
“You get a sense that India probably didn’t have that desperation today. They probably thought they could just play. And it’s a pointer to them that at this level, you can’t just arrive and play and just think that you’re going to have a good day. You have to make those good days happen.”
The former Ashes-winning skipper was all praise for England for showing desperation after losing the second Test at Lord’s. Vaughan signed off:
“You get these situations where England, they had to win today. It was desperation. The mentality had to be so good from the England side.”
England currently find themselves in a dominant position at 120/0 at stumps on Day 1. They had dismissed India for just 78 within 41 overs earlier in the day and currently lead by 42 runs.