I knew which areas Anderson is going to bowl in: Pujara

“I have faced James Anderson in the past. So I knew which areas he bowls in,” Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said on day three of the third Test match between India and England.

Pujara was speaking with the media after the end of the day’s play and seemed content with his performance. The Indian batsman made an old-fashioned half-century on the third day to grind England bowlers and pushed India to a dominant position.

While talking about the battle against Anderson, Pujara said that there is no doubt that Anderson is a great bowler but the fact that he has faced Anderson in the past enabled him to negate his threat.

The right-hand batsman said that by facing Anderson in similar conditions in 2014 allowed him to know which areas Anderson bowls in and also helped him in knowing his game plan.

Pujara also added that he had a clear mindset about what he wanted to do and he batted with a specific game plan.

Pujara scored his first half-century in the last 23 first-class innings and his first one in Tests in England. His knock of 72 runs off 208 balls featured his classic batting technique which relies on unparallel concentration and solid defense.

Importantly he added 113 runs with Indian captain Virat Kohli for the third wicket. While speaking about this partnership, Pujara said that they enjoyed batting together and they knew what exactly they wanted to do in the first session.

Pujara also spoke about the pitch and the batting conditions. He claimed that the pitch is still doing a bit and predicted that it won’t be easy for the England batsmen to bat on this surface on day four.

After getting thrashed in the first two Tests, Indian team made a remarkable comeback in the third Test. After gaining a massive lead of 168 runs in the first innings, India declared on 352 runs in the second innings to offer a record chase of 521 runs for England to win the Test.