No regrets about strategy in first 2 sessions: Pujara

Pujara scored a sedate 43 off 160 balls in India’s 233 for six at stumps on day one. Asked if he felt that he could have paced his innings better, the Saurashtra man had an emphatic no for an answer. “Not at all. We were in a very good position in the first two sessions,” said Pujara, defending the 41 runs scored by the team in the first session and 66 in the second.

“We needed to make sure that we didn’t lose wickets when the ball was swinging. It was a great day of Test cricket and there are no regrets at all about the strategy. We could have lost more wickets playing shots and got bowled in a day.”

He also defended his batting style on the day as the wicket wasn’t conducive for stroke-play. “Test cricket needs patience. If the wicket is flat, you can be aggressive. But when it is helping the bowlers, you can’t play a lot of shots. In overseas conditions, you don’t want a total of less than 200 runs in the first innings,” he said.

Kohli’s run out was massive, says Lyon

The run out of India captain Virat Kohli was “massive” and it turned out to be a momentum-shifting moment, said Australia spinner Nathan Lyon as the host snared quick wickets towards the end of the opening day of the first Test.

India looked pretty settled at 188 for three when a terrible mix-up between Ajinkya Rahane and Kohli resulted in the run out of the skipper, who made 74. “It was massive. A wicket like that, run out, especially of Virat is massive. It was good to be back on board after the Ashes. He was batting pretty well, so happy with that,” said Lyon after the day’s play.