The Indian team that looked in trouble at one point in their batting reply after Australia posted 451 in the first inning went on to take a sizeable 152 runs lead on day 4 of the 3rd test match. It is because of the splendid partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha who batted together for almost 78 overs and added 199 runs.
On their partnership, Pujara scored a double century while Saha also got his third Test hundred. Pujara and Saha scored 199 runs together to get Team India into a leading position.
Talking to the media after the end of day’s play Saha said: “We needed a partnership, and we built it slowly. Puji (Pujara) made a double hundred and I made a hundred. This has to be the best.”
“Not too many changes. But I am backing myself a lot more. Initially, when I came into the Test team, I played my go-to shots — the sweep and the shot over the top stepping out – hesitantly. But now I am 100% confident. The team, the captain, the coaches, everyone is fully behind me and that is good for me.” The 32-year-old said.
Saha admired Pujara’s patience with the bat. “The way Puji was batting, you didn’t ever feel that a wicket would fall at one end. We had a 300-run partnership in the Irani Cup, that was there on our mind too. We believed that we can bat together for long. In that game, Puji backed me and encouraged me to play my shots and be positive. The same approach was there today as well. Even when I defended, I did it in a positive sense and when I played my shots, they were also in a positive sense. He backed me, hence it was possible to have a good partnership.”
“Puji shows a lot of patience in domestic cricket, regularly makes 200s and 300s in domestic cricket. From there, his patience is always on the top. The way he showed patience here even as wickets were falling at the other end after short partnerships, he was trying to curtail his shots and have as long a partnership as possible,” Saha said.
Saha Epic Reply To Josh Hazlewood:
There were some exchange of words with the tired, frustrated Australian bowlers but that did not bother the Indian batsmen. “During the game, this (banter) happens from time to time. All Pujara told Josh Hazlewood was ‘Look at the scoreboard’. He told me something and I also told him to just go and bowl, nothing more than that.”
“In the final eight overs of the day, they lost two wickets, there was a bit of pressure on them because it was towards the end of the day’s play and they were focussed on survival. We played well but they also bowled well. We batted more than 200 overs, we were availing the loose balls and respecting the good balls. If we bowl tomorrow (Monday) like we did in these eight overs, consistently in the right areas, then hopefully tomorrow will be a good day for us,” Saha concluded.