"Despite Playing County Cricket...": Ex-Pakistan Star Slams Cheteshwar Pujara For Failing In WTC Final

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has slammed India batter Cheteshwar Pujara for failing in the recently-concluded World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval, London. Pujara scored only 14 runs during India's first innings as a Cameron Green delivery cleaned him up. The following innings saw Pujara scoring 27 runs as he perished while trying to play an unorthodox shot -- an upper cut. With India needing much more than just a decent effort from their batting unit, Pujara was among the ones who failed to make it count.

It is interesting to note that Pujara played six County cricket matches in England from April to May this year and scored 545 runs. He hit three centuries with his highest score being 151 runs.

Kaneria pointed out that Pujara failed in WTC final despite already being in England for two months and playing County cricket there. He added that Pujara's contrasting performances in County cricket and WTC final imply that the bowlers in the domestic cricket tournament of England were weak.

"Cheteshwar Pujara played County cricket for over two months ahead of the WTC final. Interestingly, he played in the same County. Despite playing for Sussex, he was not able to manage it. This indicates that the bowlers in County cricket were weak, and he got runs," said Kaneria on his YouTube channel.

"The Australian bowlers were far better, and he couldn't deliver against them. He played and practiced on the kind of wicket for a couple of months and was well aware of the conditions, but still, he was unable to play a top-notch innings," Kaneria added.