“I think, for some reason if we can carry on with the same batting order, like KL and Yashasvi to open, Rohit could come in at three, and Shubman could come in at five,” Pujara said in a chat with ESPNcricinfo. “If Rohit wants to open, KL should bat at No. 3. Nothing later than that. I think he has to bat top of the order, because it suits his game really well. I hope we don’t tinker around with that.”
“There is no question about it,” Pujara said when asked the question. “This bowling attack has given us success. [Jasprit] Bumrah looked really good. [Mohammed] Siraj was very good. And then it was supported by Harshit. He bowled really well, you have to accept that. He was playing his first game [for India], still he ended up pitching the ball up.
“The reason he was chosen in this squad is because he can bat. It will be important in the second Test match that, in case we lose a few wickets early, if the lower-middle order needs to contribute, Washington can do that role”
Cheteshwar Pujara wants Washington Sundar to continue as the lone spinner
“In Australia, it’s very easy to get carried away and sometimes when you look at the pace of the pitch, it offers a bit more extra bounce… But he was still looking to hit the right spot, good length, try and hit the top of off, and he has that ability.
“So I think we should carry on with the same bowling attack. And Nitish also, he had a bit of a bowl. I felt that those four seamers are proper options and along with that, Washington Sundar.”
That last name could be a bit contentious. Washington, as Pujara accepted, was chosen more for his batting than his bowling, and there are two battle-hardened veterans in Ashwin and Jadeja sitting out, awaiting their turn. But Pujara would still go in with Washington.
“He [Washington] didn’t look really good when he started his bowling, but eventually he got a couple of wickets, he varied his pace, so Washy should be our spinner,” Pujara said. “Because he can bat well. The reason he was chosen in this squad is because he can bat. It will be important in the second Test match that, in case we lose a few wickets early, if the lower-middle order needs to contribute, Washington can do that role.”
The second Test, in Adelaide, starts after a bit of a gap, on December 6. Before that, India play a two-day pink-ball warm-up game against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.
