***Official*** India in New Zealand 2020

[cnerd123]

I was going to comment how this narrative Manjrekar is spinning that Pujara finds hitting boundaries difficult is nonsense - he scores most of his runs in boundaries, he's very block block bash. But he's out now, so what's the point.

 

[vcs]

Pujara's first 50 is always a hard grind, he hits plenty of boundaries after that.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Can't say Pujara dug himself a nice warm hole. That's his whole game after all but that was a serious error in judgement.

 

[honestbharani]

Nah.. as much as I think Manjrekar is full of crap inside and out, he has a point. There is a difference between the usual Pujara and the way too circumspect "block even balls you can hit" Pujara. Today definitely seemed the latter. When he is not getting runs off the spinner, you know he is in the ultra defensive mode and in such cases, its usually just a matter of time.

 

[harsh.ag]

A Kohli double please.

 

[veganbob]

2 wickets in the final session and we've got this. Anything less then I'll be nervous

 

[cnerd123]

What Manjrekar was saying was that in one of his centuries in SA, Pujara had to play 'uncharacteristically' and hit a lot of boundaries while batting wit the tailenders

That's patently not true. When Pujara is settled he scores heavily in boundaries anyways, no matter what the match context. His List A record is so good because he's such a block-block-bash kind of batsman. His glaring weakness is inability to rotate the strike, which is why he constantly gets out for 11 off 80 kind of scores. It's also why he gets so many good deliveries to get out to - bowlers have plenty of time to settle into a rhythm against him because he's so bad at getting down to the other end.

It is also why he's a great foil for someone like Agarwal tho tbh. Absorbs all the pressure and takes it off his partner.

 

[honestbharani]

Oh ok.. m not watching. So if that is what he said, it is absolute **** as is usual for him. But Pujara has a certain tempo even at the beginning of his innings and when he is not quite doing that, he has more often than not, simply failed. Today's knock looks like one of those.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Pujara has only one hundred in SA and he didn't bat with the tailenders at all in that knock. So either manjrekar was pulling that out of his backside or he got it mixed up with the hundred at Southampton, which doesn't make him any less of an idiot.

 

[honestbharani]

He was probably referring to Adelaide and that was a top knock and one of the best. Pujara, against all visual and entry-level logic, is one of the best at batting with the tail and has proved it time and again for India. Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if Rahane and Pujara switched places in the line up.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Oh ok.. m not watching. So if that is what he said, it is absolute **** as is usual for him. But Pujara has a certain tempo even at the beginning of his innings and when he is not quite doing that, he has more often than not, simply failed. Today's knock looks like one of those.

This is true but it's not even just about the tempo. Pujara didn't even look particularly solid imo, he looked shite. In his big tons even if he starts almost as slowly as he did today he atleast looks comfortable when defending.

 

[OverratedSanity]

That sign

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

A Kohli double please.

Same, 2 runs would be pretty great.

 

[harsh.ag]

Ffs Mayank, it's a new session. Have to do the hard work again.

 

[Prince EWS]

This is true but it's not even just about the tempo. Pujara didn't even look particularly solid imo, he looked shite. In his big tons even if he starts almost as slowly as he did today he atleast looks comfortable when defending.

Yeah I've noticed "bad Pujara" tends to inside edge or at least get the inside half of the bat and squirt to leg early a lot for whatever reason. I'd probably get in some sort of bat pad to him early for that reason even though the guy would be unlikely to actually take a catch off one of those errors.

 

[harsh.ag]

Same, 2 runs would be pretty great.

He says after a boundary

 

[honestbharani]

I have forever hated one thing about test cricket. It is when batsmen defend balls just because it is a test match. I mean, I have seen Dravid and Pujara and even Sachin defend half volleys and full tosses and that's just such a pet peeve of mine.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I have forever hated one thing about test cricket. It is when batsmen defend balls just because it is a test match. I mean, I have seen Dravid and Pujara and even Sachin defend half volleys and full tosses and that's just such a pet peeve of mine.

This is a thing in other formats as well. We've seen Dhoni leave hittable balls in the 46th over of a big run chase. Even the best batsmen don't always "play the ball on merit" as much as they like to say it. Many of them decide whether to attack or defend before the ball has even been bowled when they're not batting well.

 

[cnerd123]

Kohli looking clueless here

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah I've noticed "bad Pujara" tends to inside edge or at least get the inside half of the bat and squirt to leg early a lot for whatever reason. I'd probably get in some sort of bat pad to him early for that reason even though the guy would be unlikely to actually take a catch off one of those errors.

Think he naturally plays slightly outside the line to avoid nicking off. Definitely overdoes it at times.