Sledging cost Australia Bangalore Test, feels Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara feels that Australia’s smug attitude in the Bengaluru Test in 2017 - even before having won the game - is what cost them the Test and subsequently the series. Having taken a 87-run first innings lead, the Aussies slumped to a 75-run defeat, failing to chase 187 on Day 4.
After suffering an embarrassing 333-run defeat in the first Test in Pune, India were rocked back on the very first day of the second Test in Bengaluru, in 2017, by a Nathan Lyon 8-fer, and after taking an 87-run lead in the first innings, it looked inevitable that Australia were going to end up victors. However, a quintessential 118-run stand from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane steadied the ship for the Indians in the second innings and a remarkable collapse from Australia on Day 4 ensured that the visitors slumped to a 75-run defeat.
Pujara, who top-scored for India with 92 in the second innings, recalled how he felt it was Australia’s needless sledging at a crucial juncture which cost them the game, with him and Rahane getting motivated by the harsh words that were spoken by the Aussies.
“I felt pressure when I walked into bat (2nd innings). The kind of sledging they did... I thought they were a little ahead of what they wanted to achieve. Their thought process was... they felt they had already won the game," Pujara was quoted as saying by TOI.
"By Tea time, I was with Ajinkya (Rahane), we were coming into the dressing room and they were sledging as if they had won the game. That is when things did turn around, I felt.”
The 32-year-old also revealed how the Ranchi defeat was the turning point in the whole series, with the whole team reflecting on the loss and picking themselves up post the defeat. Pujara also revealed how he spent time with the then coach Anil Kumble - and also at the NCA - post the shambolic first innings, in order to combat the threat of Nathan Lyon.
"For me I think the first Test match... when we lost, all of us sat together and had a chat. In a 4-Test series, it's always difficult to make a comeback after being 1-0 down.
"In the 1st innings (Bengaluru Test), we didn't bat well. So when I was walking into it, I felt a lot of pressure. But after the 1st innings, Anil bhai (Kumble) had a chat with me on how to tackle Nathan Lyon. I went to the NCA and worked on a few things which helped me.”
After drawing the third Test in Ranchi, Virat Kohli's men comprehensively won the final Test in Dharamsala to seal the series 2-1.