"It was a crucial move for us" - Cheteshwar Pujara on Axar Patel being sent to bat ahead of Virat Kohli
Cheteshwar Pujara has said the Indian team management's move to promote Axar Patel ahead of Virat Kohli was crucial and that it did not surprise him.
Axar was sent to bat at No. 4 in India's second innings of the second Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Saturday (December 24). He played a crucial 34-run knock as the visitors chased down a 145-run target with three wickets to spare.
During a post-match discussion on Sony Sports, Pujara was asked about his reaction when he saw Axar coming out to bat after his dismissal, to which he responded:
"It was a very good move because among their three strike bowlers, two were left-arm spinners. Axar is a left-hander, so he was sent to tackle them and to have a batter who can bat sensibly in the initial period against the Kookaburra ball. It was a crucial move for us."
Pujara added that the spin-bowling all-rounder's knock proved extremely valuable in the run chase, elaborating:
"That was an important phase of the game where we didn't want to lose too many wickets in the evening, and he could have batted cautiously. So I was not surprised. When you are chasing a 145-run total, every run is important, and the way he batted, his innings was very valuable for us."
Well played, Axar Patel. He scored 34 runs from 69 balls including 4 fours against Bangladesh and he came to bat No.4 for India. He picked 3 wickets as well in this test match. https://t.co/WrH9xH2j5Z
Axar remained unbeaten on 26 at close of play on Day 3 as he saw Shubman Gill and Kohli fall at the other end. Although he could only add eight runs to his overnight score on Sunday, Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin's unbroken 71-run eighth-wicket partnership ensured an Indian win.
"I was slightly late to react" - Cheteshwar Pujara on his dismissal
Pujara was also asked about his dismissal, as he was stumped for the first time after a decade, to which he replied:
"The way I was batting in this series, it was a slightly unfortunate dismissal in the first innings as well, I was quite confident about playing on this wicket. Yesterday also I was slightly unfortunate, I got an inside edge, and the ball hit my inner thigh and went to the keeper. I was slightly late to react."
Cheteshwar Pujara Stumped in test cricket after 10 years. Last times vs England in 2012 at Wankhede stadium after scoring 135, Bowler was Graeme Swann
#INDvBAN #BANvIND https://t.co/ZGO6kIKZnA
The Saurashtra batter added that the visitors would have been in the ascendancy by the end of Day 3 had they had gotten off to a decent start, explaining:
"The situation was quite ideal. I was feeling that the way I have been batting, if we had not lost too many wickets in that one hour, had scored 60-70 for the loss of one or two wickets, the match would have turned in our favour yesterday itself, but credit goes to the Bangladesh team for the way they bowled."
Pujara was brilliantly caught by Mominul Haque at short leg after scoring 24 in the first innings. In the second essay, his bat was just short of being grounded when Nurul Hasan whipped off the bails to get him stumped.