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‘Our fast bowlers bowled really well’ – Pujara
By stumps on day two of the Bengaluru Test, Ravindra Jadeja was India’s most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 49 from 17 overs. He had, however, sent down significantly fewer overs than each of his bowling colleagues. R Ashwin had bowled 41, Umesh Yadav 24, and Ishant Sharma 23. It seemed as if Jadeja had been underbowled, a curious occurrence given India were only playing four specialist bowlers.
Cheteshwar Pujara, though, suggested Virat Kohli’s sparing use of Jadeja was down to the conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“I think there was enough help for Ashwin,” Pujara said at the post-match press conference. “When Jadeja was bowling there wasn’t enough help from the centre of the wicket. There was enough rough for Ashwin and that was the reason Ashwin had to bowl more overs.
“Apart from that, as a bowling unit we had to make some changes. Fast bowlers had to bowl many overs because the ball was staying low.”
Pujara said the pitch, while still offering the bowlers plenty of help, had probably been more difficult to bat on on the first day, when KL Rahul had suggested Nathan Lyon profited from early dampness to generate extra turn and bounce.
“About the wicket, it got better,” Pujara said. “When I was batting yesterday Rahul told me that it was getting easier to bat on so I think that’s what we are expecting in the second innings. If the wicket gets better we will have a big total on the board.”
Australia ended day two six down, with a lead of 48. Pujara felt India were still very much in the Test match, regardless, and hoped they could take the remaining wickets quickly.
“If we can get them out for another 25-30 runs it will be great,” he said. “We will focus on bowling right line and length and wickets will come. I think there is enough help from the pitch for the spinners and fast bowlers.
“The bowlers will have some plans tomorrow for [Mitchell] Starc and the Matthew Wade. We will think of what we could have done better but overall I feel we have bowled well.”
Pujara said conceding only 197 runs and taking six wickets represented a strong showing from the bowlers.
“Throughout the day we bowled very well. Especially the fast bowlers. It wasn’t easy for the fast bowlers because there wasn’t much help. Obviously there was the odd ball that stayed low but they had to put in a lot of hard work. And the spinners as well. All the bowlers [did well] – we can see the run rate, they were not able to score many runs.
“In a way, it was a victory for us and we bowled tight lines. Lengths were very good from the fast bowlers. All in all, we bowled well and took six wickets but they didn’t score many runs.”
On a pitch that didn’t offer too much bounce, a number of edges fell short of the slip fielders, and Pujara said they had tried moving themselves closer to the bat without much avail.
India continued to have a tough time with the Decision Review System © AFP
“They [the slip fielders] were trying to adjust and stay a little up but it just didn’t carry and at times you just have to accept it,” he said. “When the bowlers were bowling well, a few were going through the slips but it wasn’t carrying. As a bowler, it is a bit frustrating. But that is something we can’t help.”
Another frustration for India was their continued trouble with the Decision Review System. They failed to review a not-out decision when Shaun Marsh gloved Umesh Yadav to the wicketkeeper, had an on-field lbw decision against Marsh chalked off after the batsman reviewed, and used up two reviews speculatively late in the day.
“We have been working on it,” Pujara said. “At times there were some close calls and we didn’t get it right. We will work on it more. There was one incident where Shaun Marsh was out and we didn’t take the review.
“This was the time when they were already five [two] down and if we had got another wicket it would put some pressure on them. We had to take that chance but we didn’t go for it. Probably that’s something that we can work on but we are getting better with DRS.”
Australia’s batsmen, particularly the half-centurions Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh, seemed to trust their defence against India’s spinners more than some of India’s batsmen had done on day one against Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe. Pujara, though, didn’t feel this was the case.
“I think the most important thing was we didn’t get a good partnership. When we had partnerships, things were getting easy for us but we kept on losing wickets. I think there is nothing wrong with the Indian batting line-up and we are known to play spinners well.
“Apart from last three innings, we have been batting well. So we just have to have a gameplan. We had a chat this morning. We will have a different gameplan in the second innings, and at the same time we are confident of doing well. We have to accept that we didn’t bat well in the last three innings. We will put up a better show in the next innings.”
Karthik Krishnaswamy is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo