On Day 3 of the third Test match in the India tour of England, the visitors stood tall as they managed to bat throughout the day at the loss of just two wickets. After getting out for a mere total of 78 in the first innings, India came back strong in its second innings with the bat. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli remain unbeaten at the crease as the third day of the Headingley Test match concludes. First innings, India 78/10, James Anderson (6/3), England 432/10, Joe Root (121). Second Innings, India 215/2, Cheteshwar Pujara (91*), Virat Kohli (45*).
After a string of low scores in the recent most Test matches, there were a lot of conversations happening about Pujara’s exclusion from the playing XI. The number three batsman for India in the longest format has definitely silenced the critics with his gritty unbeaten knock of 91 in the second innings on Day 3 of the third Test. The 33-year-old was the glue for the Indian batting line-up in the second innings. Following KL Rahul’s early departure, Pujara walked out to bat after lunch along with the in-form Rohit Sharma. The Indian Test specialist had a crucial partnership of 82 runs with the opener, which gave the tourists a confident start. Pujara played with a positive approach as he was the highest contributor in his partnership with Rohit. Following Rohit’s unfortunate dismissal, the Indian skipper joined Pujara at the crease. The partnership between the two-Test veteran’s looked fluent, both batsmen showed respect to the good deliveries and sent the bad ones to the boundaries. Pujara was flicking boundaries while Kohli was playing the cover drive as best as ever. Pujara stitched one more game-changing partnership, this time it came with the Indian captain, the unbeaten partnership conjured 99 runs before the day was concluded.
The Indian camp would want their two set batsmen at the crease to continue the partnership and set up a healthy lead.
Ollie Robinson and Craig Overton managed to grab one wicket each for the Englishmen on Day 3.