Team India's top-order batters disappointed on Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India after their bowlers put up a lacklustre show on Day 1 which allowed Australia to pile up a colossal total of 469. After the close of Day 2, India are in a state of lurch as half of their side were sent back to pavilion to leave the scoreboard at 151/5 and trailing Australia by a massive 318 runs with three days to go. When India needed them the most, the likes of Rohit Sharma (15), Virat Kohli (14), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14) perished under pressure which has put the team on the brink of defeat. Ajinkya Rahane (29 off 71; not out) is the only experinced batter who is intact on the crease along with Srikar Bharat (5 off 14; not out) to keep India's hopes alive going into Day 3.
More than anything else, India's batters' woeful shot selection on Day 2 caught everyone by surprise, especially the way Pujara and Gill got out. Australian bowlers left no stone unturned to keep it tight for India batters with their disciplined bowling. Both Pujara and Gill were dismissed in the same fashion as they both got bowled while leaving the ball. Scott Boland effected Gill's dismissal while Cameron Green rattled Pujara's stumps. Gill was undone by a ball that darted back in from Boland while moments later Pujara followed the same patch and went back to pavilion in an identical fashion. Seaming in deliveries left the India's batting duo clueless to whether play the ball or leave it.
Meanwhile, former India coach Ravi Shastri minced no words to blast Gill and Pujara for their poor shot selection and not knowing their off stumps. Shastri said that Gill will learn eventually but it wasn't expected from a batter of Pujara's repute.
"That is leaving it poorly because the front foot has just gone across. It should be going towards the ball; he was looking to play it and then decided whether he should leave it. You see, the way he is leaving it, the off-stump is exposed. The front foot is still middle stump when it's actually going towards off stump. Watch that front foot. It should be further across and towards the ball. He thought it was outside the off stump. It was an error in judgment," Shastri said on air.
Notably, it is the same pitch where Pujara has amassed bulk of runs while featuring for Surrey in the County Championship over the last two years.
"We talk about leaving the ball in England and we always talk about knowing where your off stump is. This is not knowing where your off stump is. See, Shubman Gill being a little lazy with his footwork. He will learn; he is still young, but Pujara will be very disappointing seeing that. It should have been a little further towards the ball and across the line of the ball. That's why they keep telling you - know where your off stump is," Shastri further added.
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