South Africa vs India 2018: 2nd Test Day 2: 5 things we learnt from the day

#3 Pujara’s moment of madness

Pujara completely misjudged the run and eventually was run out.

After bowling South Africa out for 335, the Indian openers began well. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul (who replaced Shikhar Dhawan) off cautiously, but they looked solid at the crease. Rahul, in particular, was batting well, but a checked drive brought about his downfall (caught and bowled by Morne Morkel).

Cheteshwar Pujara is a key man in the Indian batting line-up and at 28/1, India would’ve expected him to bat long. However, the first ball he faced he clipped a straight delivery to the right of mid-on and took off for a single. However, a little bit of hesitation and some brilliant piece of fielding from debutant Lungisani Ngidi meant India’s No. 3 needed to return to the dressing room without troubling the scorers.

Ngidi ran across from mid-on and hit directly at the stumps to catch Pujara short. Even a desperate dive couldn’t help the latter’s cause. Pujara hit it straight to the man at mid-on and set off even though he’s not the quickest, he took a chance which cost him dearly.

Hence, that was Pujara’s moment of madness as his runout put India in a spot of bother at 28/2. It was also the first golden duck of his Test career.