India’s batting struggles continued on Day 1 of the Adelaide Test against Australia, but Cheteshwar Pujara pointed out a silver lining: KL Rahul and Shubman Gill’s intent at the crease. Their 69-run partnership was the only substantial stand in an otherwise dismal performance by the Indian batting lineup.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Pujara praised the duo for their initial pitch assessment and handling of Australia’s bowlers, though he acknowledged that their inability to convert the start into a big score ultimately hurt the team. India faced an immediate setback as Mitchell Starc dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal on the very first ball of the pink-ball Test. Despite the early loss, Rahul and Gill steadied the innings for a brief period, combining resilience with a touch of aggression.
“Their intent was really good. They were quite positive. They forced the bowlers to move their length because they were pitching it up. They played really well, but they forced the Aussie bowlers to go back off length and that’s where I think we didn’t tackle that well. Most of the dismissals from our top order, apart from Yashasvi, KL got out to a ball which was rising a bit, Virat got out to a ball which was back of length. He wasn’t decisive whether to play or leave that ball, and Gil got out to a fuller ball,” Pujara said.
“So we didn’t tackle the back of the length balls well, which is the key, especially with the new ball. With the pink ball and I felt that that middle order could have batted a bit better,” he added.
However, once their partnership was broken, with KL Rahul getting dismissed for 37 and Shubman for 31, India’s batting crumbled again—a recurring theme in this series. From a precarious 69/2, the side slid to 180 all out, with Nitish Kumar Reddy’s fighting 42 being the only other bright spot in the innings.
