India needs to start playing on slightly better pitches: Cheteshwar Pujara

Former India No.3 batter Cheteshwar Pujara has asserted that India should start playing on better surfaces at home in the longest format of the game, adding that luck plays a major part when they are playing on a rank turner.

Interestingly, the Eden Gardens surface offered uneven bounce right from the first day of the game as India suffered a 30-run defeat to South Africa to start the two-match Test series on a worrying note. 

“Luck plays a major part when you are playing on a rank turner. What India needs to do is start playing on a slightly better pitch. I’m not saying that you don’t play on a turning track. You always did that, support for the bowlers that they are getting some assistance from the pitch. But it has to be a pitch where you should be able, if you are playing well, if you’re working hard, if you are reacting well, you should be able to score 100,” Pujara told JioHotstar.

“When you start playing on rank turners, which India has done since 2020, a majority of the games, I would say 70 or 80% of the games have been played on a pitch where the result has been in three days, within the three days of a five-day match,” Pujara noted.

Furthermore, Pujara emphasized that it’s important for the Indian team to play on a surface that takes the game to Day 4 and 5, adding that the bowlers should get assistance once the second innings commences.

“It’s important that India plays on a pitch where the results are on Day Four, Day Five, which is slightly better pitch to bat on in the first innings. And as you get into the second innings, the ball starts turning a bit more, it becomes very challenging,” he reckoned.

“If there is a low score in the second innings, I don’t mind, but the first innings score should be on the slightly higher side, even if it’s something close to 300, 350, that is still acceptable. But if 200 or 150 is a very good total, then I think that’s the pitch where you don’t normally (do well.),” he concluded.

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