‘That’s why they keep telling you – know where your off stump is’ – Ravi Shastri analyses Shubman Gill’s and Cheteshwar Pujara’s dismissals

Both Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill were dismissed owing to some poor shot selection on Day 2 of the ongoing World Test Championship finale against Australia. Notably, both cricketers attempted to leave the ball but it eventually darted back in, dislodging the stumps and sending them back to the pavilion. Both wickets were a carbon copy of one another and thus, the team management will be very disappointed with their poor shot selection in the high-voltage affair.

Meanwhile, talking about the same, former India head coach Ravi Shastri mentioned that Gill is young and he will learn with time but he seemed very disappointed with Pujara as the latter has enough experience playing in the English conditions. He was recently playing for Sussex in the County Championship Division Two and it was expected from him to read the conditions well but unfortunately, he failed to deliver in the first innings.

“That is leaving it poorly because the front foot has just gone across. It should be going towards the ball; he was looking to play it and then decided whether he should leave it. You see, the way he is leaving it, the off-stump is exposed. The front foot is still middle stump when it’s actually going towards off stump. Watch that front foot. It should be further across and towards the ball. He thought it was outside the off stump. It was an error in judgment,” Shastri said on air.

“We talk about leaving the ball in England and we always talk about knowing where your off stump is. This is not knowing where your off stump is. See, Shubman Gill being a little lazy with his footwork. He will learn; he is still young, but Pujara will be very disappointed seeing that. It should have been a little further towards the ball and across the line of the ball. That’s why they keep telling you – know where your off stump is,” added the 61-year-old.

Notably, India are 151/5 after Stumps on Day 2 and the Rohit Sharma-led side is currently trailing by 318 runs. The team now needs a solid partnership between Ajinkya Rahane (29*) and KS Bharat (5*) on Day 3 of the Test match.