WTC Final 2023: Ravi Shastri blasts Cheteshwar Pujara for 'not knowing his off stump'

Tight bowling spells from India helped them make a comeback in the first session on the second day of the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval on Thursday.

However, needing the batting to shine and fight, India’s top-order was shredded with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli failing to deliver.

Read More: WTC Final 2023: Top-order failures put India on the back foot against Australia

Gill and Pujara let deliveries go and saw them knock off their stumps. Gill was defeated by a ball that darted back in from Scott Boland and Pujara followed it up with a dismissal that was a spitting image.

Ravi Shastri, “Shubman Gill will learn, but Cheteshwar Pujara should be disappointed by that dismissal. He’s an experienced player”. pic.twitter.com/yR0g8YyorE

— CricketGully (@thecricketgully) June 9, 2023

The wicket was very unlike for an experienced Pujara who is known to be somebody in complete control of his surroundings. For somebody who has been on three full-time tours of England and has been playing County cricket to prepare, the sight of Pujara playing all over that delivery made for a pretty abject viewing. So much that former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri went no-holds-barred in his criticism of the veteran.

“That is leaving it poorly because the front foot has just gone across. It should be going towards the ball; he was looking to play it and then decided whether he should leave it. You see, the way he is leaving it, the off-stump is exposed. The front foot is still middle stump when it’s actually going towards off stump. Watch that front foot. It should be further across and towards the ball. He thought it was outside the off stump. It was an error in judgment,” Shastri said on air.

Read | Gill, Pujara dismissals could have been avoided, says Sunil Gavaskar

Shastri is of the opinion that while Gill’s error is understandable and fixable with experience, Pujara’s confusion over where his off stump is a huge disappointment in itself.

“We talk about leaving the ball in England and we always talk about knowing where your off stump is. This is not knowing where your off stump is. See, Shubman Gill being a little lazy with his footwork. He will learn; he is still young, but Pujara will be very disappointed seeing that. It should have been a little further towards the ball and across the line of the ball. That’s why they keep telling you – know where your off stump is,” added the former India coach.

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