Cheteshwar Pujara had to face harsh taunts when he came out bat in Saurashtra’s second innings during the Ranji Trophy 2018–19 semi-final against Karnataka at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Pujara, who refused to walk after edging a delivery in the first innings, was ‘greeted’ with chants of ‘cheater, cheater’ as he made his way out in the middle.
Pujara, who had a prolific tour of Australia, on his return participated in the ongoing Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra. During Saurashtra’s first innings, the right-hander edged one to the wicketkeeper off fast-bowler Abhimanyu Mithun. However, umpire felt Pujara did not hit and so the batsman continued his innings. The Karnataka players were convinced that Pujara had edged it and were clearly unhappy with him for not leaving. TV replay later confirmed that Pujara indeed had edged the ball. Pujara went on to score 45 was eventually caught and bowled by Mithun.
As Pujara came out to bat, the crowd was heard chanting ‘cheater, cheater’. The remarks apparently taunted at Pujara for his failure to show the sportsmanship in the first innings. Pujara came out to bat with his team struggling 23 for three in chase of 279 runs. Gautam Gambhir Gets Run-Out Hilariously During Day 3 of Ranji Trophy 2018-19; Trolls Himself on Children’s Day! (Watch Video)
Here’s the video of the crowd calling Pujara as ‘cheater’:
— Mushfiqur Fan (@NaaginDance) January 27, 2019
Here’s the video of Pujara not leaving despite edging the ball:
— Mushfiqur Fan (@NaaginDance) January 25, 2019
Interestingly, in the fourth innings of the match, Pujara once again edged the ball and did not walk out to add to the frustration of Karnataka players. This time, Vinay Kumar was the bowler and Pujara was batting on 34 when the incident took place. Latest ICC Test Rankings for Batsman: Cheteshwar Pujara Moves Up to Third Spot, Rishabh Pant Jumps 21 Places
Here’s the video of Pujara second time not walking despite edging:
— Mushfiqur Fan (@NaaginDance) January 27, 2019
With Pujara not opting to walk out, it could prove to be a huge difference in the game. At the time of writing this story, Pujara was batting on 77 and had added 125 runs for the fourth wicket with Sheldon Jackson. The winner of this match will play Vidarbha in the finals of Ranji Trophy 2018-19.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 27, 2019 03:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).