Plays a sturdy 88-ball 17 knock, with no boundaries, to see off the wrath of Australian pacers while Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal perish in first session.
The former Australian Test cricketer feels Aussie pace attack sometimes gets wobbly while Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are going to create problems for the home side with the pink ball.
The legendary cricketer says he will be happy to see Pujara bat 15 of the 20 days cricket that would be played during the four-Test series.
Paine says 21-year-old allrounder Cameron Green is medically fit to make his test debut in the day-night fixture, but won’t divulge whether struggling opener Joe Burns will play.
A day/night Test match has its own little grammar where batsmen are expected to attack in the first session while bowlers are at their peak once the sun sets, allowing the pink kookaburra to pick its pace up.
India, barring last week's first-class game, only made their debut in this format of Test cricket in November 2019 at home, comfortably beating Bangladesh, but now have a far bigger challenge to overcome when they face Tim Paine's men on Thursday.
In a video released by BCCI on Wednesday, Smith, during his conversation with the Indian captain, is seen asking Kohli about his predictions for the impending Test series
Paine, on his part, agreed that there isn't a need to get aggressive but he and his men won't take a "backward step" if need arises.
Pucovski, who was primed to open in the opening Test in Adelaide starting on Thursday, was ruled out after suffering a concussion in the first warm-up game between Australia A and India A.
With New Zealand whitewashing West Indies at home with a win on Monday, the Black Caps are emerging as a threat for Australia and India in the race to the Lord's final for the inaugural World Test Championship trophy.
Visiting spinners have struggled immensely in day-night matches Down Under, picking a combined 13 wickets in 23 innings at an average of 95.38 and strike rate of 150.6.
The India players have been on the road since September, playing the IPL in a bio-bubble and then straightaway flying to Australia where they again underwent quarantine and are staying inside a bio-bubble.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and even KL Rahul were all seen at the nets.
Calling himself a big fan of the India pace spearhead, Border said Bumrah has the potential to make a difference between the two sides in the much-anticipated rubber, starting in Adelaide from Thursday.
The Aussies, who had initially named David Warner, Will Pucovski and Joe Burns as openers for the first Test, suffered twin blows with Warner getting injured and Pucovski getting a blow on his head.
After having warmed up for 10 minutes with his teammates by doing a few stretching exercises and running drills at the Adelaide Oval, Smith skipped the routine football session and headed straight to the dressing room
In contention for the opener's slot, Gill showed great technique and composure during his 43 and 65 in the two innings against Australia 'A' in the pink-ball warm-up.
Finch, who was part of the last home Test series between the two teams, said the Indian skipper looks much calmer the way he goes about his job now.
Pujara amassed 521 runs with three centuries and earned the Man-of-the-Series award in 2018-19 series Down Under.
Indian vice-captain Rahane will be leading the team in absence of Virat Kohli in last three Test matches against Australia.
Top News
Latest News
