Cheteshwar Pujara gets bowled after being caught off-guard by Trent Boult's delivery

Team India have found themselves in troubled waters as they fell prey to Kiwis’ tactics in the second innings at Basin Reserve in Wellington. The visitors have already lost four wickets and are still trailing by fifty-plus runs on Day 3, a clear sign that indicates New Zealand are en route to getting off the mark in the two-match Test series.

India’s opening batsman Mayank Agarwal was by far the best batsman for India as he chipped in with 58 on the back of 7 fours and a six. But Tim Southee figured out his weakness and stopped him from going about his business. Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari are putting up a fight at but Kiwi pacers are giving everything to generate a fair bit of bounce to ruffle the batsmen feathers.

Trent Boult was cut above the rest of the bowlers for displaying flair and flamboyance on the pitch. He dismantled India’s top-order by picking up three wickets with such ease. He dismissed Prithvi Shaw for 14, Cheteshwar Pujara for 11 and Virat Kohli for 19. It was yet another failure for Indian captain Virat Kohli as he failed to play an innings of substance.

Trent Boult stuns Cheteshwar Pujara with a sensational delivery

Cheteshwar Pujara, as is always the case, consumes too many deliveries before settling himself at the crease. Once he gets into the comfort zone, there is literally nothing that can stop him from playing long innings. However, Kiwi pacer Trent Boult got the better of Pujara with an absolute gem of a delivery.

With Pujara playing patiently by leaving the majority of balls, Boult figured out a way to dismiss him, albeit it was a misjudgement from Pujara’s perspective. In what was a fullish in-angler from the left-arm pacer as he pitched the ball on a fourth stump line, Pujara was completely caught off-guard by the beauty of the ball.

India’s dependable batsman had to make the decision in a split second and decided to leave the ball anyway but the ball ended up crashing on to one of his stumps. After putting all the hard work for as many as 81 deliveries, he was dismissed for just 11 runs, a rare failure for someone like Pujara of his calibre.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/ZSls98FUhE

— Cricket Lover (@Cricket50719030) February 23, 2020