INDORE: Cheteshwar Pujara has faced Nathan Lyon’s bowling 1265 times in Tests. To put in perspective, that’s almost 2.3 days in a five-day encounter. To put it in further context, this has been one dominating subplot in the recent history of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 2017 in India. 2018-19 and 2020-21 in Australia. And just like night follows day, this particular contest kept bums rooted to the seats on Day 2 of third Test in Indore.
India’s No 3, who was dismissed for one in the first innings by Lyon, was again dismissed by the same bowler in the second innings. But not before he showed why he’s considered as one of India’s finest batters among active players against spin bowling. His 59 off 142 may not be enough to rescue the hosts -- the visitors need 76 after India were bowled out for 163 just as the shadows started to lengthen -- but it will be remembered for a long time.
Even as other batters came and went, mostly to Lyon as he picked up second eight-wicket haul in India, Pujara raged against the dying of light. In the morning, Cameron Green and Peter Handscomb had survived a full hour as they helped the visitors to 197. If their knocks put the visitors in charge in the morning, Pujara’s gave the hosts a smidgeon of a chance before it was rudely plucked away.
Firstly, coming in at 15/1 after Shubman Gill had been castled by Lyon post a rush of blood to the head, Pujara began exhibiting different facets of his technique again spin, including an adjustment. Sometimes, he skips down the track to defend. In the DRS era, that’s asking for trouble. He himself has felt that a few times as he been out leg-before in this fashion.
On Thursday, whenever he came down the track, it was to punch or to flick. He didn’t defend with bat and pad close together. The other little adjustment he had made was to protect his front pad at all costs. Bat was in front of the pad and he was presenting the full face of the blade. He was dropped once, by Marnus Labuschagne at cover, but you need luck on these surfaces to thrive. The host broadcaster’s Pujara-related numbers -- he had middled almost 90% of deliveries he had faced -- told its own story. To attain that sort of control on a devilish strip like this was to watch a master in control of his own destiny.
Even as Lyon was consistently wheeling away in celebration at the other end, Pujara kept the game honest. At one point, he charged the offspinner before dispatching him over wide long on. In over 1200 balls, that was the first time he had hit Lyon for a six. Prior to this shot, he had also shown game awareness by hitting southpaw Matthew Kuhnemann for two fours in the over. After that over, Kuhnemann never really managed to regain his rhythm. The end result was a chaotic little period in the post tea session that yielded India 34 runs in five overs.
To arrest the leak, Steve Smith turned to Mitchell Starc, a major win for the India batters. That, though, proved to be beginning of the end. Off his second ball, Shreyas Iyer, who was looking good for many, perished as his airy flick was caught by a diving Usman Khwaja at mid-wicket. 113/4 had become145/7 when Pujara lofted Lyon into the stands.
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Then came the sucker punch. There had appeared to be an instruction of sorts from the dressing room to get a move on, to get as many runs as possible just before that six. So, when Lyon got one to pitch in Pujara’s middle stump on a good length line, it wasn’t a surprise to see him go for a fine tickle to pick up a cheap four down the leg-side. However, it was not to be as Smith, standing at leg-slip, pulled off a see-it-to-believe-it one-handed catch. Pujara’s only mistake with that shot selection -- if you can all it that -- was he got too much bat on that. Even as Lyon and Co. mobbed Smith, Pujara dragged himself off the ground.
It was the 13th time Lyon had picked Pujara in Tests. Given the context of the game and the series, this could be up there as his most important. Speaking on their battles over the years, Lyon said: “I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he goes about it. Nothing fazes him, whether it’s bouncing at the Gabba or spinning in Indore. He seems to find a way and a method. As I said last week, a lot of boys and girls can go the way he goes about batting and learn from it. He doesn’t have reverse sweeps and shots like that, but one thing he does have is an unbelievable defence. In my eyes, Test cricket is built around defence. We saw his class on a pretty challenging wicket once again.”
Unlike his previous knocks against Australia, this one may just fall short.