'Coach will have to speak to batters; they need to use their feet' - Cheteshwar Pujara's plea to India after Kolkata drubbing

Cheteshwar Pujara has stated that the Indian batters must find ways to adapt to different situations and score more runs after the hosts collapsed against South Africa at the Eden Gardens, recording a 30-run loss in the first clash of the two-Test series.

India were skittled out for just 93 while chasing 124 – their third-lowest fourth-innings score in Tests. The 30-run loss to the Proteas is India’s fourth loss in the last six home Tests, having been blanked 0-3 by New Zealand last year to record a historic low. The defeat to South Africa is their first at home against them in the last 15 years.

Pujara admitted that he was not certain whether India had deliberately got a rank turner prepared, but suggested that the team should be prepared to perform irrespective of the conditions on offer.

“I believe that firstly, we don’t know whether the team management actually wanted such a pitch. But whatever the surface is, you need to perform on it and you need to be very well prepared. I would say we should have bowled slightly better and, at the same time, batted better. Unfortunately, we were short of one batter. Shubman Gill got injured in the first innings and wasn’t available in the second innings as well. That was a big loss for the Indian team. But the Indian batters will have to find a way to score runs on such pitches,” Pujara said while speaking to JioStar.

Pujara also emphasised the importance of using the feet and employing sweep shots in situations like those on offer at Eden Gardens, as the Indian batting unit was exposed against inconsistent bounce and turn from the pitch.

“If the Indian team ends up playing more matches on surfaces like this, then where do the scoring opportunities come from? That is something that needs to be discussed in the team meeting. The batting coach will also have to speak to the batters. They need to use their feet, play the sweep shot, and play a little more positively on such pitches. You need to put the bowler under pressure, and that is something the Indian batters failed to do in this particular Test match,” he added.

The second Test of the series will be played from November 22 in Guwahati.