"You never know when you will get an unplayable ball" - Cheteshwar Pujara explains his aggressive approach

Team India batter Cheteshwar Pujara admitted he went out to bat with the intention to score runs off loose balls considering the tough surface in Johannesburg.

He was unbeaten on a swift 35 off 42 at Stumps on Day 2 of the Wanderers Test against South Africa. The 33-year-old continued batting positively on Day 3 and reached a half-century off 62 balls before being trapped lbw by Kagiso Rabada for 53.

At a press conference following the 3rd day’s play, Pujara was asked whether he made a conscious effort to be aggressive. Agreeing with the observation, the India No. 3 explained:

“It was (a conscious effort to bat positively).” Pujara elaborated, “Looking at the pitch, it has variable bounce and it’s not easy. Whenever you get a loose ball, you want to make sure that you put it away. You never know when you will get an unplayable ball. It was part of my game plan that if I get a loose ball, I’ll try and convert it.”

The batter added that things went according to plan, which helped his cause. The Saurashtra cricketer stated about his crucial innings:

“But I didn’t do anything extra. I have been batting well. It was one of those days where everything was going as per my plan. Overall, really happy with the way things went.”

The 33-year-old also termed his century partnership with Ajinkya Rahane (58) as crucial in the context of the game. He commented:

“The partnership with Ajinkya was very crucial because we were at a stage when we wanted some runs on the board. It’s not about just my score but about the team’s total in the end.”

Rahane and Pujara added 111 runs for the third wicket in the second innings to lift India after KL Rahul (8) and Mayank Agarwal (23) fell cheaply.

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“We’ll have our chances tomorrow” - Cheteshwar Pujara

Although India could only pick up two wickets in 40 overs in South Africa’s second innings, Pujara pointed out that India have runs on the board.

Analyzing the match situation, the tenacious batter said:

“It is always important to get some runs on the board. Especially when you are playing on challenging pitches, it is never easy to score big runs. If we look at this game, it is a challenging pitch and we have runs on the board. We are well balanced in this game. Although we haven’t picked up too many wickets today, we are confident that the pitch will deteriorate tomorrow and we’ll have our chances tomorrow.”

Chasing 240, South Africa ended Day 3 on 118 for 2 with Dean Elgar batting on 46 and Rassie van der Dussen on 11. With two full days left, they need 122 to square the series while India need eight wickets.