India vs England | Cheteshwar Pujara's century gave India psychological advantage, says Sunil Gavaskar

English batting line-up seemed to look loose as they were failing to put up a good score and this gave India believe that the game was in their grip. This was only until Joe Root, scored 48 runs and Jos Buttler, who scored 69 runs, managed to mount the score to increase the effective lead for the team. England were 260/8 in the second innings, which means that they have a lead of 233 runs at stumps on day 3 and will expect to add more on the penultimate day of the Test. Chasing such a target is going to be a mammoth task for Team India. 

Sunil Gavaskar has stated that Pujara kept calm and showed a composed character to hold the game for the team when other batsmen failed to stand. He scored a century with the support of the tail-enders. 

“Cheteshwar Pujara’s calm, composed century gave India the lead and psychological advantage. His was typical Test-match innings, where some patience is required. He had the gumption to occupy the crease. For too many modern batsmen are chomping at the bit to hit big shots that they play so well in limited overs, but they forget sometimes that the red ball does a lot more than the limited overs white ball does and get out. Pujara bided his time, rode out the early tough times and got to a well deserved hundred. He also did the good thing by acknowledging the invaluable support of Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in getting those last runs to get a century, as well as help India take the lead,” Gavaskar said. 

He also spoke about the pitch conditions in Southampton and how Moeen Ali spun the ball on a pitch that didn't help the ball spin much. He also mentioned that batting for the fourth innings in such conditions with such a high target shall be tough for India.

“With 20 wickets falling on the first two days, it would appear that there's a devil in the pitch. While the ball has certainly moved a lot, it's mainly ordinary technique and head positioning that has led to the batsmen’s downfall. India will be more concerned that Moeen Ali took five wickets on a pitch which didn't help spin at all. Yes, Ishant Sharma's follow through was creating a bit of a patch where Moeen Ali did land occasionally and got a bit of turn. That might have created a bit of a doubt in the batsmen's minds but some of the shots were quite forgettable. India knew that they did not want to chase more than 150 to 200 in the second innings for it is not going to be easy batting in the fourth innings,” he said.

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