India vs England, 1st Test, 3rd Day: First session of fourth day is the most crucial one: Cheteshwar Pujara

Chennai, Feb. 7: As India ended the third day of the opening Test match at 257/6, India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara said the opening session of the fourth day will be a crucial one for the home team.

After England captain Joe Root put the visiting side in the driver’s seat as he guided the visitors to 578 in the first innings, the England bowlers did well to pick up occasional wickets as India ended the day with six wickets down.

Rishabh Pant (91) and Cheteshwar Pujara (73) helped salvage India’s innings with a strong show, but with the hosts trailing the visitors by 321 runs, Pujara said the opening session of the fourth day will be a crucial one.

“The first session tomorrow is the most crucial one, we would like to bat as long as possible on this pitch. There is a little bit of spin now but overall it is still a good pitch to bat on. We would back our tai lenders to bat well in these conditions because there is still a lot to play for and we just want to get as close to the total as possible,” Pujara told ANI during the virtual press conference at the end of the third day’s play.

The India batsman said the pitch is still good to bat on. R Ashwin and Washington Sundar was at the crease at the end of day’s play and Pujara said, the duo looked set in the middle and there’s a lot to play for.

“It is still a good pitch to bat on. We are still very confident as Ashwin and Washington both are batting really well. We just have to move on from here,” said the batsman.