How Cheteshwar Pujara countered variable bounce at the Wanderers Stadium pitch

Pujara
along
with
Ajinkya
Rahane
stitched
a
111-run
stand
for
the
third
wicket
and
helped
India
extend
their
lead
on
Wednesday.

Both
batters
were
going
through
a
lean
patch
but
ended
up
hitting
crucial
fifties
on
Day
Three
of
the
second
Test.

“This
pitch
has
variable
bounce
and
it’s
not
easy
whenever
you
get
a
variable
bounce,
you
put
it
away
because
you
never
know
when
you
will
get
an
unplayable
ball.
It
was
a
part
of
my
game,
that
if
get
a
loose
ball
I’ll
try
and
convert
it,”
said
Pujara
in
the
post-match
press
conference
after
the
end
of
day
three’s
play.

“But
I
didn’t
do
anything
extra,
I
have
been
batting
well
and
it
was
one
of
those
days
when
everything
went
as
per
my
plan.

“Overall
really
happy
with
the
way
things
went
and
I
think
my
partnership
with
Ajinkya
was
very
crucial,
given
that
we
were
at
a
stage
where
we
wanted
some
runs
for
the
team,”
he
added.

South
Africa
need
122
runs
to
win
the
second
Test
against
India
with
six
sessions
left
in
the
match
here.

Pujara
is
confident
that
India
will
seal
the
match
on
Thursday
despite
not
picking
“many”
wickets
on
Day
Three.

“Whenever
you
have
some
runs
on
the
board
it
always
helps,
if
you
look
at
this
game
it
has
been
a
challenging
pitch
but
we
have
runs
on
the
board,
so
the
game
is
still
very
balanced.

“We
haven’t
picked
up
too
many
wickets
today
but
we
are
confident
that
we’ll
have
more
chances
tomorrow,”
said
Pujara.
Indian
Test
captain
Virat
Kohli
had
a
spasm
on
his
upper
back
on
Monday
morning
and
was
ruled
out
of
the
second
Test.

“He
(Kohli)
is
definitely
getting
better
and
I
feel
he
will
soon
be
fit,”
said
Pujara
on
Wednesday.

South
Africa
folded
India
for
266
in
the
second
innings
and
then
got
to
a
decent
start
as
their
score
read
118/2
at
the
Stumps
on
Wednesday.

South
Africa
started
the
chase
cautiously
as
skipper
Dean
Elgar
and
Aiden
Markram
survived
a
tricky
phase
before
Tea
on
Day
Three.

SA’s
plans

South
Africa
batting
consultant
Justin
Sammons
believes
that
his
side
can
chase
the
target
against
India
in
the
ongoing
second
Test,
but
they
need
to
be
prepared
to
grind
it
out
against
a
relentless
bowling
attack.

“The
message
for
the
guys
coming
in
would
be
to
see
how
the
morning
plays
out
and
we
just
have
to
be
adaptive.
We
need
to
get
through
the
first
hour
and
play
according
to
the
situation.

“It’s
been
an
interesting
wicket,
not
the
easiest
deck
to
bat
on.
It
goes
without
saying,
the
task
is
not
going
to
be
easy,”
said
Sammons
during
a
virtual
press
conference.

“The
Indian
attack
has
been
relentless.
But
we
believe,
we
can
chase
it
down.
The
way
we
batted
this
afternoon,
it’s
a
case
of
point
there,”
he
added.

Talking
about
Proteas
skipper
Dean
Elgar,
Sammons
said:
“He
is
a
competitor.
The
thing
he
loves
about
the
game
is
the
competitiveness.
The
competitive
nature
of
the
Test
cricket
brings
the
best
out
of
him.

“His
role
will
be
massively
important.
Having
somebody
there
to
bat
for
the
rest
of
the
innings
would
be
the
key.
Just
having
someone
with
his
character
for
the
guys
coming
in
to
be,
I
think
it’s
massively
important.
His
leadership
goes
a
long
way
in
getting
us
over
the
line
tomorrow,”
he
added.