The India tour of Australia began on a perfect note for the visitors as the skipper Virat Kohli won the crucial toss in the 1st Test. But the top-order failed to take the advantage and crumbled. Cheteshwar Pujara stood tall and kept the side in the game at the end of day 1.
KL Rahul and Murali Vijay walked out to open the innings on a bright and sunny day in Adelaide. The surface wasn’t assisting the seamers much. But both the right-handers played irresponsible shots outside the off that led to their downfall in single digits.
Kohli too went for an expensive drive to a ball that was way outside off. Pat Cummins accounted for the crucial wicket but the credit must go to Usman Khawaja who grabbed a stunner at gully. India was struggling at 19/3 in the 11th over. Pujara was soaking in the pressure and looked in no hurry.
He formed valuable partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin. All the other batsmen got starts but failed to convert into anything substantial. But Pujara put up a prize on his wicket and refused to give up easily. He had gone past a half-century but India still hadn’t got to a decent score.
At one stage, the visitors found themselves at 210/8. After that, Pujara took matters into his own hands and looked for some quick runs with Mohammed Shami at the other end. Contrary to his natural game, the No.3 batsman struck some quick boundaries. The right-hander brought up his 16th Test century late in the day. Ultimately, he got out for 123 off 246 balls that helped India to 250/9 at the end of day’s play.
Here’s how Twitter hailed savior Pujara
It was a gritty innings from @cheteshwar1 under the circumstances. Congratulations to you on your brilliant century. Looking forward to many more knocks like this in the series. #AUSvIND #FightOfMight pic.twitter.com/MwhPN8BGW3
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 6, 2018
Wonderful wonderful innings from Cheteshwar Pujara. Classy, resilient, tenacious….all these old-world virtues. This was the gold standard of test match batting.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 6, 2018
Yesterday Cheteshwar Pujara at Adelaide…
First phase: 89 in 228 balls (S/r 39.04), 5f, 0s
Second phase: 34 in 18 balls (S/r 188.88), 2f, 2s#AusvInd#AusvsInd— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 6, 2018
Least innings to 5,000 Test runs among Indians:
95 – Sunil Gavaskar
99 – Virender Sehwag
103 – Sachin Tendulkar
105 – Virat Kohli
108 – Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara*#INDvAUS— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) December 6, 2018
Cheteshwar Pujara produced one of his finest Test knocks to start the #AUSvIND series! pic.twitter.com/tpblry4GQ6
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 6, 2018
Not the first time a gutsy Indian three has led India’s recovery at the Adelaide Oval. Standing ovation @cheteshwar1 – A knock that’ll headline your career for years to come. #AusvInd #CheteshwarPujara
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) December 6, 2018
Most runs by a visiting team player on the opening day of a Test series in Australia:
132 – Sir Gary Sobers, Brisbane 1960
126 – Maurice Leyland, Brisbane 1936
123 – CHETESHWAR PUJARA, Adelaide 2018#AUSvIND— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) December 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/DeepDasgupta7/status/1070577482061860866
Congratulation #cheteshwarpujara on scoring your 16th Test century, and the third against #Australia at the #AdelaideTest @cheteshwar1
— Rajat Sharma (@RajatSharmaLive) December 6, 2018
4 down in the first session. Lost 2 more in the second session. India would take 250/9 on day-1. #ThankYouPujara #AusvInd @Channel7 @1116sen
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 6, 2018
Pujara wasn’t a part of the build-up narrative….India or Australia. It’s only fair that he dominates the first day of this #AusvInd Test series. Love it.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/ShaneWarne/status/1070577519554785280
https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1070577715844009984
One the great guys of the game .. What an innings from @cheteshwar1 … Steve as the Yorkshire team call him as they couldn’t pronounce his 1st name … #AUSvIND @FoxCricket #Adelaide
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/MClarke23/status/1070576866120089600
https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/1070576851339210752
https://twitter.com/TomMoodyCricket/status/1070577948657238016
https://twitter.com/bowlologist/status/1070577509073211393
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