Kohli singles out Rose Bowl knock as Pujara’s best

Cheteshwar Pujara’s gritty 132 not out propelled India to a slender lead over England on the second day of the fourth Test and skipper Virat Kohli felt that it was one of the Saurashtra batsman’s best knock in Test cricket.

“It is by far your best knock that I have seen, I thought Colombo was your top knock but this has to be at the top of the table,” Kohli said in an interview with Pujara, as quoted by BCCI.tv.

Pujara compared the two innings and hoped that his knock, which helped India gain a slender lead turn out to consequential keeping the series in mind. India currently trail 1-2 in the five-match series.

“Colombo was challenging but the situation here was even more challenging and the series which is quite balanced now, with that innings we are at commanding position and if we can bowl well today, we can get them out cheaply and win the Test match, so it could be a series-defining knock,” said Pujara.

His 32-run stand with Ishant Sharma and 46 runs with Jasprit Bumrah helped India gain a small lead and both Kohli and Pujara had words of praise for the tail-enders.

“When we were batting we thought we can take 100-plus lead easily but then the team collapsed and then you showed great determination and the tailenders were outstanding,” Kohli said.

Pujara joined in the praise and said, “When I was batting with the tailenders, initially I thought I might be 80-85 not out and we will get bowled out. But the way Ishant (Sharma) and (Jasprit) Bumrah batted, I was really pleased.”

“I don’t think we have seen many tailenders do that in the past, so I think we can rely on our tailenders. So it was pleasing to see the determination from the players,” he added.

The number three batsman further said that it was his batting in the Third Test in Nottingham helped him gear up for the fourth one.

“Last Test did help me, the amount of time that I spent on crease gave me a lot of confidence, and the preparation that I was doing, I could trust that and implement again in this Test match,” he said, adding, “But when we (Pujara and Kohli) were batting together, I thought we will give a 150-run lead but unfortunately you (Kohli) got out and rest of the batsmen could have batted well but that is something we will do in second innings.”