Whatever The Target, Pujara Expects ‘A Good Show’ From Indian Batsmen

India had begun day three of the fourth Test against England at Southampton with a slender first-innings lead but ended it trailing england by 233 runs, with two wickets still to get. With 260/8 in the second innings, the hosts have regained their feet after what was a long day for the Indians, but not necessarily a tough one, according to their first-innings centurion, Cheteshwar Pujara.

“I don’t think it was a tough day for us,” Pujara said. “Looking at the pitch, it has slowed down a bit. Looks like it’s slightly easier to bat and maybe we have got a lot of experience playing in such conditions back home, [something] our batsmen would have realised.”

England were helped by a fine half-century by Jos Buttler (69) and valuable contributions from captain Joe Root (48) and Sam Curran, who built on his half-century in the first innings with an unbeaten 37 on Saturday, ensuring that the visitors, who are 2-1 down the series, will be at least around 250 when they bat last.

“We started off well in the first innings but we lost too many wickets in the middle phase. If we had batted well, we would have got 100 or 150-run lead, but that is something in the past,” Pujara said of India’s first-innings effort, where they had slipped from 161/3 to 195/8 before Pujara led a rearguard with Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, with the last two wickets adding a valuable 78 runs.

“But all the batsmen have realised what they need to do and I think we will put up a good show in the second innings and bowl them out early tomorrow.”

“I think when Moeen bowled in the first innings, the wicket was a little quicker and some of our batters could have batted a bit better,” he said. “But he (Moeen) is a good bowler – I am not trying to take any credit away from the way he bowled. But we still should have batted better against him and in the second innings batters will have a better game plan against Moeen.”