Twitter ridicules Cheteshwar Pujara for failing in the practice game

He scored only 1 run and was dismissed by Matt Coles.

Published - 25 Jul 2018, 16:25 IST | Updated - 25 Jul 2018, 16:25 IST

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The much-awaited Test series between India and England is all set to begin on August 1 before which the visitors are preparing themselves with a solitary practice game against Essex. The match has been trimmed into a three-day contest after the Indian team requested for the same in order to spend more time in Birmingham to gear up for the series opener.

But they have started poorly in the first innings after opting to bat first in Chelmsford. While Shikhar Dhawan bagged a golden duck, India’s most dependable number 3 Cheteshwar Pujara could only score 1 run. He was dismissed by Matt Coles as he edged the ball to the wicketkeeper to expose the middle-order of the team.

Pujara has been playing in the County circuit this season and is expected to be the lynchpin of the batting line-up. Many have tipped him to anchor the innings on this tour but his failures of late is creating trouble for the team.

Pujara’s troubles overseas

Cheteshwar Pujara has had his share of issues overseas recently and has failed to impress while playing away from home. He was able to muster only 100 runs in 6 outings against South Africa earlier this year and was also guilty of getting run-out unnecessarily.

The five-match series against England is crucial for him as he will have to perform to the potential and prove his critics wrong. The practice game was an excellent opportunity to get himself into the groove but many questions will be raised now over his ability after yet another failure.

He is definitely a certain starter in the first Test but will have to perform before being replaced by the likes of Karun Nair or KL Rahul. However, Twitter trolled him after he was sent back early by Coles highlighting his inability to face the moving ball.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to his early dismissal:

Another Pujara failure #ESSvIND
— Bilal 🇮🇳 (@Ahmadbilal111) July 25, 2018

Pujara out for 1. India 5 for 2, Vijay 3 not out.
Pujara in Overseas – 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎#ESSvIND
— M Gowtham (@drgowtham_m) July 25, 2018

I think this will be the situation of whole tour . Top 3 not getting runs and put pressure on middle order as happened in SA.
When did Dhawan and Pujara win the match for India outside Asia?
When will they learn?#ESSvIND
— Mukesh🇮🇳 (@IamMksahu) July 25, 2018

#ESSvIND
रोहित शर्मा को नही खिलाने का श्राप मिला है #RohitSharma
— Er. Sukhveer Punia (@sukhveerpunia45) July 25, 2018

Interesting to see Pujara played county in England recently and walk already on 1 against Essex. Hope he doesn’t carry this against England #ESSvIND
— J (@diehard_msdian) July 25, 2018

Pujara ko wapas bhej do India 🇮🇳.#ESSvIND
— Mukesh🇮🇳 (@IamMksahu) July 25, 2018

What a start by india.
As expected 🙂#ESSvIND
— Aalsi ladka….🙇 (@CrickFreak_rd) July 25, 2018

Not a promising start at all.. Anderson and Broad must be smelling something already #ESSvIND
— Naveen Samy (@ImNsamy) July 25, 2018

Fantastic start India to the warmup match against Essex, 5-2 after 3 overs 😭 gives fans great confidence #ESSvIND
— Yashas Mudumbai (@YashasMudumbai) July 25, 2018

Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara, two concerns for India in the Tests, are out for 0 and 1 respectively v Essex.#ENGvIND #ENGvsIND #INDvENG
— CricBlog (@cric_blog) July 25, 2018

Pujara's batting troubles are more to do with his skills than form. A dreadful County stint and a brief innings today. Hasn't got the best stats overseas to back it up either. #ENGvIND #EssexvIndia
— IndianCricketFansForum (@ICFans) July 25, 2018

India 8-2 against Essex! This is not good news. Tough times ahead. High time the batsmen prove they can bat overseas. #ENGvIND
— Arjun Jain (@arjjain) July 25, 2018

Gone for a golden duck.. #Shikhardhawan
And Pujara leaves at 1 off 7 balls..
India are 5/2 off 3 Overs #ESSvIND #ENGvIND #TeamIndia
— Buvanesh (@buviwrites) July 25, 2018

Same old tale for Dhawan and Pujara against red ball, overseas. #ESSvIND #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/6DZCGB7oH9
— IndianCricketFansForum (@ICFans) July 25, 2018

Pujara edges and goes too. Enough movement both ways to test the batsmen but for now, nobody's staying long enough to get tested.#ESSvIND #ENGvIND
— Suneer (@suneerchowdhary) July 25, 2018

Pujara is best test player in overseas with really great technique.
Chal hat C 😛 #ESSvIND
— Aalsi ladka….🙇 (@CrickFreak_rd) July 25, 2018

So Pujara still looking shaky in these conditions. For the record, he is pretty average in comparison to his teammates outside the sub-continent.
#EngvsInd #ESSvIND pic.twitter.com/HtjVJIvDry
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) July 25, 2018

📽️ Second wicket of the day for Coles, as Pujara is caught behind by Foster#ESSvIND pic.twitter.com/wkfz3FfxmP
— Essex Cricket (@EssexCricket) July 25, 2018