It turned the page during the Auckland Test, though, running the New Zealand batting to ground for just about 100 runs; they were highly effective on Day 1 of this Test as well, exploiting the conditions to bowl NZ out for 192.
Their real test, however, was on Sunday on a pitch that was slowly dying out; they picked up five quick wickets but then ran into an obstinate partnership. "Day by day the pitch is getting better," declared Cheteshwar Pujara. "But our bowlers did a very good job and bowled in the right areas. They didn't allow them to score many runs, a good sign for us. Overall, looking at the wicket they bowled really well," he added.
The backbone of India's batting agreed that the Test has ebbed and flowed to make a really exciting game. "Yes, really fantastic game so far. But we are still in a very good position. If we can get a couple of quick wickets early on, a lot of time is available. We are happy with the way things have shaped up. We would have been happier with a couple more wickets."
Pujara refused to read too much into the dropped catches. "You are bound to drop some but it's not good to pinpoint a couple of dropped catches. It happens in this game, each and every team goes through this phase."
Speaking about his own batting, and lack of a big score for once, he said: "I have learnt from my mistakes. My only regret is the first innings dismissal in the first Test where I played a really bad shot. I got a good ball in the second innings and here also in the first innings I got a very good ball. So I am learning from my mistakes, and the overall experience."
0 comments:
Post a Comment