Cheteshwar Pujara defended teammate Ravichandran Ashwin after a poor outing by the premier off-spinner left India facing a daunting task in the fourth Test against England, in Southampton, on Saturday.
England flourished on Jos Buttler’s gutsy half century to take a competitive lead of 233 runs by stumps on the third day.
In contrast to Moeen Ali’s five-wicket haul, Ashwin struggled to get going on Saturday and finished with 1-78 in 35 overs despite his good bowling form earlier in the series.
Pujara though defended his teammate.
“I don’t think he had a bad day. He didn’t get too many wickets but he kept on bowling in the right areas. Sometimes as a bowler you do have such days when you are bowling but you might not end up picking too many wickets,” Pujara said.
“Someone like him, he is a clever bowler, and he has done really well for us throughout the domestic season as well as overseas. So I don’t think he has bowled badly at all.
“But, yes, the pitch has slowed down a lot and that could be the reason some of his balls (deliveries) didn’t go through as much he might have wanted.
“It is their team combination. I don’t think it matters too much, but being an off-spinner Ashwin bowls well to left-handers. I don’t think it makes a huge difference.”
