India vs England: Cheteshwar Pujara loses his cool after unlucky dismissal ends his promising knock

If there is one batsman in the world who rarely throws his wicket away and rarely loses his cool, it has to be Cheteshwar Pujara. The India batting star puts a big price tag on his wicket and is rarely seen getting out by his own mistake. Perhaps this is why he lost his cool and was in utter disbelief after a freak dismissal ended his promising knock in the ongoing first Test against England in Chennai.

After steadying the ship for India following the team’s poor start with the bat, Pujara crossed his 50-run mark and was looking destined for a century. He was hardly troubled by the England bowlers on the flat MA Chidambaram track. But his fine knock came to an unexpected end in the 51st over when he was batting on 73.

Dom Bess bowled a short delivery that deserved to be hit. Pujara too decided to go for the shot as he rocked back and pulled the ball with all his force. The India star had made good contact with the ball before the bizarre incident unfolded. In a fraction of a second, the ball was in Rory Burns’ hand at mid-wicket.

The replays later showed that the ball had first hit Ollie Pope’s shoulder before ballooning towards mid-wicket. As soon as Pujara pulled the ball, Pope ducked for cover and the ball hit his left shoulder before lobbing to mid-wicket for a simple catch where Burns made no mistake. Unsurprisingly, Pujara was in disbelief and did not shy away from venting his frustration as he smashed his pads with his bat.

Here is a clip of Cheteshwar Pujara’s dismissal:

Pujara was very unlucky. He got out like this after playing so well. 😭😭😞

Yes, we all want #JusticeForPujara . #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/3UyjOfdrMm

— Ritesh Mahato (@Ritesh_7l) February 7, 2021

England back on top

Cheteshwar Pujara’s dismissal brought England back on top once again. After posting a mammoth total of 578, the tourists had started well with the ball and had India reeling at 73 for 4. But before they could make further inroads in the game, Pujara and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship for the hosts. The duo added 119 runs for the fifth wicket before Bess sent back Pujara.

A few overs after Pujara’s departure, Pant departed too for 91 as he became Bess’ fourth victim. At the time of compiling this report, India were on 236 for 6 with Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar in the middle.