NEW DELHI: South Africa pace legend Dale Steyn believes India’s batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara could have rotated the strike better during the second day of World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton.
Pujara’s strike-rate has been a constant subject of debate for some time now and the India No. 3 did his stats no good on Saturday, scoring 8 off 54 balls.
He took 36 balls to get off the mark and was eventually trapped in front of wicket by New Zealand pacer Trent Boult. “…I’m sure if he (Pujara) looked back and looked at the sample of video analysis, he would find that there are deliveries there where he could have created the opportunity to maybe rotate strike a little bit more,” Steyn said on ESPNCricinfo.
“I saw something come up and it was like 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 and then a wicket. I’m sure in all those 50 (54) balls, he could have rotated strike and just gotten that scoring to nudge on a little bit for himself and as well as his team.” India ended the second day on 146 for 3 with skipper Virat Kohli (44 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (29 not out) at the crease.
—PTI

Press Trust of India