On Day 2 of the ongoing World Test Championship decider versus Australia, both Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill were removed due to poor shot selection.
Notably, both cricketers sought to leave the ball, but it returned, dislodging the stumps and sending them back to the pavilion.
Both wickets were a carbon replica of one another, and the team management would be quite upset with their shot selection in the high-voltage encounter.
Meanwhile, former India head coach Ravi Shastri stated that while Gill is young and will learn with time, he was dissatisfied with Pujara because the latter has enough experience playing in English conditions.
He recently played for Sussex in the County Championship Division Two, and it was anticipated of him to read the circumstances well, but he fell short in the first innings.
“That is leaving it poorly because the front foot has just gone across. It should be going towards the ball; he was looking to play it and then decided whether he should leave it. You see, the way he is leaving it, the off-stump is exposed. The front foot is still middle stump when it’s actually going towards off stump. Watch that front foot. It should be further across and towards the ball. He thought it was outside the off stump. It was an error in judgment,”
Shastri said on air.
“We talk about leaving the ball in England and we always talk about knowing where your off stump is. This is not knowing where your off stump is. See, Shubman Gill being a little lazy with his footwork. He will learn; he is still young, but Pujara will be very disappointed seeing that. It should have been a little further towards the ball and across the line of the ball. That’s why they keep telling you – know where your off stump is,”
added the 61-year-old.
Notably, India are 151/5 after Stumps on Day 2 and are currently trailing by 318 runs. On Day 3 of the Test match, the side needs a good partnership between Ajinkya Rahane (29*) and KS Bharat (5*).
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