It's always tough to be out of the team, but now I'm back: Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara did only one thing on Monday – bat like Chetehswar Pujara and that was enough for him to get his first half-century of the English summer. That it took almost an entire county season an one Test match to come was the cause of concern for Team India.

Cheteshwar Pujara did only one thing on Monday – bat like Chetehswar Pujara and that was enough for him to get his first half-century of the English summer. That it took almost an entire county season an one Test match to come was the cause of concern for Team India.

Pujara’s poor run of form in the County Championship for Yorkshire and a lack of big score in the international arena had resulted in his axing from the first Test match. That pushed Pujara, who averaged 50 before the start o the series, to come out a more determined.

"Yes (I did feel the pressure of not scoring). It's tough to be out of the team but now I'm back," said Pujara. "To be honest there is always some pressure especially when you have not scored too many runs. Even as a team as a batting unit, before this Test match, collectively we hadn't scored too many runs.".

Pujara scored 72 runs and added 113 runs with skipper Virat Kohli as India piled on 352-7 decl. and set an imposing 521-run target for England to win the third Test.

He overcame a poor run of form wherein he averaged 14.66 in the past nine innings, with his last half-century coming in Johannesburg on a green-top against South Africa.

"Playing County cricket did help me. I've learnt a lot. Although I didn't score too many runs in County cricket but I was playing on challenging pitches. I think I was always confident," said Pujara.

"I always felt that I was batting well especially in the nets, especially the way I was timing the ball. I was very confident that I was up for a big one.

"The way I batted in this innings, I felt that whatever I was working on in the nets, it came along. Really pleased to score those 72 runs, valuable 72 runs for the team," he added.

Pujara said they had a clear game plan against James Anderson when he and Kohli started batting on day three.

"Anderson is a great bowler no doubt but facing him in 2014 in similar conditions has helped me. I knew what areas he bowls in and what should be my game plan. I was clear with my game plan. I think facing him in the past helped me because I've played him even in Indian conditions," he said.

"It's always challenging to bat against them. But the way we had our partnership, especially in the first session, I think we knew what we wanted to do. You just have to respect the conditions and the way they bowled. We had our game plan and we stuck to it. I think we won that session," he added.

England played out nine overs last evening but now face six sessions to bat and save this third Test and prevent India from making a comeback in this five-match series.

"There is enough help for the fast bowlers. In the first session, we saw a number of deliveries rose and many balls also stayed low. But the way we bowled in the first innings, if we bowl like that we have a good chance of bowling them out tomorrow," Pujara signed off.