"We needed about 24 to 48 hours to come out of it"- Cheteshwar Pujara recalls India's horrific 36 all-out in Adelaide Test of BGT 2020-21
Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara recalled the aftermath of the side's infamous 36 all-out in the opening Test of the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide. He acknowledged that the team needed close to two days to switch off before returning to cricketing activities and focussing on the rest of the series.
For the uninitiated, India took a valuable 53-run first-innings lead in the pink-ball day-night Test in Adelaide. However, they came apart in a historic collapse to be bowled out for their lowest-ever Test score of 36 in only 21.2 overs in the second innings.
As a result, Australia were set a sub-par target of 90, which they successfully chased down with eight wickets to spare.
Recalling the aftermath of India's 36 all-out, Pujara, who was part of the playing XI, told ESPN Cricinfo [1:19]:
"We had couple of days. We needed about 24 to 48 hours to come out of it. But the good part was we had a very good team dinner where we didn't speak anything about cricket, we had fun, we were together and had a great time. And the next day onwards our practice sessions began and that's when we started talking about the game."
He added [1:48]:
"The time with the team was important because when you lose, it is very easy to go in a shell, start blaming someone and talk about the negatives of what went wrong on the field. But when we had team dinner, we never discussed about cricket, we never spoke about what went wrong, what lies ahead. So we were in the present, enjoyed that moment, had a great night and then from the next day we switched on."
After scoring a gritty 43 in the first innings, Pujara did not open his account in the second innings collapse.
The defeat left India with the daunting task of coming back from a 0-1 deficit in the four-Test series.
"There wasn't enough time to chat, we were bowled out in 1.5 hours" - Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara reflected on the players having no time to even blink an eye or chat about the happenings during their forgettable 36 all-out in the 2020-21 Adelaide Test.
None of the Indian batters even reached double figures with Mayank Agarwal's nine being the highest score in the innings.
"There wasn't enough time to chat, we were bowled out in 1.5 hours (laughs). The moment I am walking in, I see another batter is walking in. The moment I am moving to another spot, there is another guy coming in. So we didn't have any chance to speak or reflect amongst ourselves on losing or getting bowled out," said Pujara [0:54].
Pujara, however, stressed the importance of winning the following Test at Melbourne to restore the belief in the side.
"It was important once we switched on and started talking cricket again to follow it up with a performance. And that is what happened as we followed it up with a performance on the field and when we won the Melbourne Test, the series was level. That's when we knew we had a chance of winning the series because we had done it in the past," he said [2:21].
India bounced back from the Adelaide debacle in style, winning two of the next three Tests to complete an improbable 2-1 series win.
Meanwhile, the current Indian side took a 1-0 series lead with a thumping 295-run victory in Perth. They will return to Adelaide in an attempt to right the wrong of 2020-21, with the pink-ball affair starting on Friday, December 6.