‘This is Not Knowing Where Your Off-stump Is’: Ravi Shastri Lashes Out at Pujara for ‘Leaving it Poorly’

India faltering again on the second day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final has certainly put Australia in pole position. If the opening day belonged to the Aussie batters Travis Head and Steve Smith, the following one was exploited by the bowlers who got quick success as they shredded the Indian top-order comprising Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. None of India’s top four batters could score more than 20 runs on a track where Head and Smith mounted a 251-run stand. Despite repair work from all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, India find themselves tottering at 151 for 5 and are 318 runs behind.

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The Australians showcased a terrific bowling performance to wipe out half of the Indian batters. Notably, two of them were the outcomes of poor judgement and woeful shot selection. Gill and Pujara shouldered arms to deliveries that knocked their stumps off. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri couldn’t resist lashing out at the senior pro, Pujara, who has had immense success at this very venue during his county stint for Surrey.

“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 the middle stump when it’s actually going towards the 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.

It’s been two years since Pujara has been representing Surrey. It was his county stint that earned his place back in India’s Test squad after getting axed last year for the 2-match series against Sri Lanka at home. But despite scoring hundreds of runs on English soil, the veteran Indian batter couldn’t tick the box in the munch-important outing for Team India.

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Since both Shubman and Pujara got out in a similar fashion, Shastri asserted that the youngster still has time to learn from his mistakes as it’s just the start of his career but for someone like Pujara, a veteran of 100 Tests, not knowing where his off stump is a huge disgrace.

“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 is 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,” Shastri further said.