The performance of the Indian team against Australia in the World Test Championship final has been very poor. India's bowlers were disappointed on the first day and the Australian team managed to score 469 runs. At the same time, the batsmen were disappointed on the second day and India's score is 151/5 till the end of two days' of play. Team India is still 318 runs behind Australia's score and India needs to reach 269 runs to avoid the follow-on. Now all the hopes of Team India rest on Ajinkya Rahane and Shrikar Bharat.
Once again, India's top order failed in a big match of an ICC tournament. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli were dismissed for small scores after getting good starts. The Indian top order crumbled at a time when it was most needed. None of India's top four batsmen could cross the 15-run mark. Ravindra Jadeja's innings of 48 runs tried to handle the game, but he too could not get India out of trouble.
Australia's bowlers bowled consistently well and kept the pressure on the Indian batsmen, but the shot selection by the two Indian batsmen was poor. Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill left the balls coming in the stump and returned to the pavilion after being clean bowled. Pujara is one of those batsmen who knows his off-stump very well, but in this match, he made such a mistake that is not digestible to anyone.
Former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri also took a class on Pujara. He said "Pujara is leaving the ball badly, his front foot is going towards the leg stump when it should be going towards the ball. He was trying to play the ball at first but later decided to leave it. His decision proved wrong.
Pujara has toured England three times before and has been successful as well. He has done wonders here in county cricket as well, but his shot selection in this match was surprising. Last year too, Pujara was selected for the one-off Test against England due to his county experience, but he did not do much there either. Now he is disappointed at the Oval as well. Shastri said Gill making a mistake is understandable as it is still early days for the youngster, but Pujara, a 100-Test veteran, should know where his off-stump is, which in itself is a huge disappointment.
Shastri said "We talk about leaving the ball in England and we always talk about knowing where your off stump is. Shubman Gill is a bit lazy with his footwork. He will learn with time, He is still young. But, Pujara will be very disappointed to see that. His feet should have been towards the ball and in line with the ball. That's why coaches keep telling you that you should know where your off-stump is."
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