Pujara was advised to bat briskly, reveals Kohli

Indian Test captain Virat Kohli on Monday opened up on the revelations made by former chief selector Sandeep Patil on Cheteshwar Pujara.

Patil had said Kohli and coach Anil Kumble were unhappy with Pujara’s performances in the Caribbean and advised the player to work on improving his strike rate before the Kanpur Test.

Pujara, batting at No.3, has scored 62 and 78 in the two innings of Kanpur Test at the strike rate of 56.88 and 51.31 respectively. Kohli said Pujara was a revelation for him in this Test.

“In the West Indies what we spoke about was the need. He is someone who absorbs the pressure really well but after a certain stage in the innings there comes a time when the team needs runs. That’s where we felt that he has the ability to capitalise. It was just about conveying that to him. He has worked hard on his game. He scored at a good strike rate in the Duleep trophy,” Kohli said.

“Even on this wicket he was scoring at 65, almost 70 strike rate, which for me was a revelation. To see Pujara bat that way... Because he used to bat that way initially. Especially at home. If you see his double hundreds against England and Australia, he will dominate spinners. That’s exactly what we wanted him to do. We didn’t want him to go into a shell. We want Pujara to bat to his potential. Once he starts scoring runs to go with the composure he already has, it becomes very difficult for the opposition to have control of the game. That’s all we wanted to convey to him.

“He’s someone who understands what the team wants. He has worked hard on his game. He has come back and he is playing more positively. Which we appreciate as a team and me personally as a captain that he has actually gone and worked hard on his game. He has not told us this is my comfort zone and I am not going to get out of it. That is the kind of characters we need to win games and series.”