Former Australia Batsman Mocks Cheteshwar Pujara For Comments Ahead Of India vs Australia 1st Test

Indian bowlers had a tough time in the four-day practice match against Cricket Australia XI, conceding over 500 runs to the hosts at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The match ended in a draw with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul impressing with the bat in the second innings but the bowlers were made to toil as Harry Nielsen smashed a brilliant century for the home team. Ahead of the first Test between India and Australia in Adelaide, Cheteshwar Pujara, who hit a half-century in the warm-up game, claimed that "conceding 500 runs in a warm-up game doesn't mean anything".

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Pujara played down any concerns regarding Indian bowlers' performance in the warm-up match in Sydney.

"Conceding 500 runs in a warm-up game doesn't mean anything ... we are not very much worried about it," Pujara told reporters on Monday.

"Our bowlers know what they have to do ... they know what line and lengths to bowl in Australia. As a bowling unit we are very confident," the Indian middle-order batsman added.

"We utilised all three days (in Sydney) properly. We also had some net practice while the game was going on so I don't think it was a concern at all. We got enough practice and we did what we wanted."

However, former Australia batsman Dean Jones was not too convinced and mocked Pujara for his take on practice game.

Well it does to the Australian boys who scored those 500 . Just saying. https://t.co/HmJTxcX3FT

— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) December 3, 2018

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and batsman Rohit Sharma were the only two Indian cricketers to train in the nets on Monday with the rest of the squad having a rest day.

"We got what we wanted in the practice game and the trainer and the physio has been monitoring the workload," said Pujara.

"We thought that it was best to take a break today and train for the next two days and be fresh for the Test match."