Cheteshwar Pujara may have scored a half-century against Australia in the first innings of the ongoing Sydney Test against Australia, but the batsman is facing backlash for his slow pace of scoring. The Indian no.3 batsman faced 176 deliveries for his half-century knock.
In a Q&A session on Twitter, former Australian captain and batting great Ricky Ponting was also critical of Pujara's innings. He believes that the Indian batsman's approach wasn't "right," adding that Pujara was putting too much pressure on his batting partners.
"I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners," Ponting said about Pujara.
Pujara's 50-run knock was the joint-highest of the Indian innings alongside Shubman Gill, as India were bowled out on 244 in the first innings. Australia have taken a 94-run lead by the virtue of India's total.
Pujara was dismissed by Pat Cummins as he was taken aback by the uneven bounce, handing an easy catch to Tim Paine behind the wickets.
Earlier, India were in a stronger position when they ended the first session at 180/4, but the side faced a collapse with Rishabh Pant and Pujara being dismissed in successive overs.
The side lost the remaining six wickets within 64 runs.
