'Stuck At Crease': Why Pujara Is Struggling Against Left-Arm Spin

Back in 2019 when Cheteshwar Pujara arrived in India after frustrating Aussie bowlers and playing the lead, man-of-the-series role in India's first-ever Test series win in Australia, he got stuck

The Nagpur track was dry just as the ones in the last two Tests were which helped Sarwate and Leach to restrict his scoring.

"The wicket was dry. That also played a role. If he is (stuck in) crease then you get opportunity to turn the ball. Straighter one is also beneficial," added Fazal.

Sarwate said that the idea was not to let Pujara settle and disallow him from rotating strike and have him stuck inside the crease.

"I had seen him and he likes to step out and rotate strike. My plan was to not let him step out. The idea was to bowl and hit the right areas, so that he gets stuck in his crease and isn't able to rotate strike. When he is able to rotate strike, he settles down. So we thought we should bowl in the right areas so that he doesn't settle," recalled the Vidarbha left-arm spinner.

Leach himself said very little on Pujara's dismissal except that he wants to continue doing it.

If the pitch for the fourth and final Test remains dry and powdery, Pujara could be in for a tough time again.