“It was something very personal” - Rohit Sharma on message to Cheteshwar Pujara on Day 2 of IND vs AUS 3rd Test

Team India captain Rohit Sharma refused to divulge details of the message he sent out to Cheteshwar Pujara on Day 2 of the third Test against Australia in Indore on Thursday, March 2. The Indian skipper stated that the message had nothing to do with the game and was something very personal.

Pujara was India’s top-scorer in the second innings, compiling a hard-fought 59 off 142 balls. The knock, however, went in vain as the hosts folded up for 163, leaving Australia with a small target of 76. Travis Head (49*) and Marnus Labuschagne (28*) eased the visitors to a nine-wicket win on Friday.

On Day 2, Rohit was seen in an animated conversation with Ishan Kishan after which the latter ran out on the field and delivered a message to Pujara. Not much later, the batter stepped out and slammed Nathan Lyon for a six.

At a press conference following the end of the Test, Rohit was asked about the message he sent out to Pujara on Day 2. The Indian captain sheepishly replied:

“That’s quite personal. Very very personal stuff. It was nothing to do with the game. It was very personal talk. If it was a tactical thing I would have told you definitely, but it was something very personal.”

While Pujara battled it out and held one end up, Shreyas Iyer took on the bowling and smashed a quickfire 26 before being dismissed. Backing the latter’s approach, Rohit commented:

“When you are playing on pitches like these, you need a Shreyas Iyer kind of an innings. Someone has to step up, someone has to take down the bowlers. It cannot be always that the batters will get 100 runs, 90 runs or 80 runs. You have to play cameos like that.

“If one of the top batters can get a big score, that’s a plus. But, when you know the pitch has some offering, there is a challenge, you need guys to go out there and play the way Iyer did.

“He was a little unfortunate. He timed the ball really well and (Usman) Khawaja took a very good catch. You need that kind of innings.”

Admitting that every team needs players like Shreyas as well as Pujara, Rohit elaborated:

“On the other hand, you see Pujara. He loves spending time in the middle. He wants to grind it out. That’s his way of doing it. It may not be the same for a lot of the other guys.

“That is something we spoke in the group as well - find your own methods of going out there and doing the job. As long as the job gets done, we are happy as a unit.”

Pujara and Shreyas added 35 for the fifth wicket before a superb catch by Khawaja ended the latter’s cameo.

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“When you are playing on challenging pitches, batters will be challenged” - Rohit Sharma

While India won the first two Tests, their batting wasn’t at their best in Nagpur and Delhi as well. In Indore, they crumbled, folding up for 109 and 163. Rohit Sharma, however, defended the batters. He said:

“When you are playing on challenging pitches, batters will be challenged. That is the nature of it. As I said, people have to find their way of doing it.

“It’s not like people have not scored in these conditions. If we look back at some of the Test matches we played before this series, guys have got big runs. It’s just that people will have that phase where runs are not coming.

“We want to win, whether it is two days or five days doesn’t really matter. I do understand that it can haunt us as well. We want to be brave enough in what we do out on the field, which starts with playing on challenging pitches.”

The final Test of the India-Australia series begins at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from March 9.