Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was honoured following the conclusion of the second test after the Australian captain’s incredible gesture of giving Pujara a signed jersey of team Australia made both countries’ supporters happy.
Spirit of Cricket 👏🏻👏🏻
Pat Cummins 🤝 Cheteshwar Pujara
What a special gesture that was! 🇮🇳🇦🇺#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/3MNcxfhoIQ
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 19, 2023
Earlier, Indian and Australian players presented India batter Cheteshwar Pujara with a Guard of Honour. As Pujara entered the field, the players cheered for him and gave him a standing ovation. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar honoured the veteran Indian batter prior to the game for his numerous memorable match-saving innings for India.
Team India made the same gesture in consideration when Australian spinner Nathan Lyon was participating in his 100th Test match.
Talking about the 2nd Test –
Another three day Test and once again Australia losing with an embarrassing performance. Australia elected to bat first to start the Test, and Usman Khawaja came in to bat after the first Test’s failure. While Smith and Labuschagne experienced a rare failure, he was supported by Handscomb. In the opening innings, Mo Shami had four picks, while Ashwin and Jadeja each had three. India’s response was shaky as KL Rahul’s rough patch persisted and the majority of their top-order had trouble scoring runs. At 139/7, they were in trouble, but Axar and Ashwin provided the rearguard, cutting the lead to just one run.
At the beginning of day three, Australia was 61-1 and optimistic about carrying on its batting counterattack from the previous evening. The visitors only lasted 19.1 overs on day three’s morning as Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin claimed all ten wickets, but it was the Indian spinners who went berserk. India was 14-1 at lunch, needing to win by 115 runs, with Cheteshwar Pujara (1 not out) and Rohit Sharma at the crease.
As Australia crumbled for a paltry score of 113, he finished with figures that were career highs of 7/42. India struggled during the chase as Rohit ran himself out and Rahul was dismissed cheaply. KS Bharat added the finishing touches with his unbeaten cameo of 23, but Pujara held the line from one end despite Kohli and Iyer losing.
