Cheteshwar Pujara backs Virat Kohli to bounce back after twin failures against Australia at Adelaide

India’s veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara wants Virat Kohli to quickly forget about his twin failures against Australia at Adelaide and bounce back stronger. Kohli, who has a terrific record at the Adelaide Oval, returned with scores of 7 and 11 in the second pink-ball Test, which India lost by 10 wickets on Sunday.

The talisman had scored an unbeaten 100 in the second innings at Perth but unfortunately, he could not continue the good form. Kohli was dismissed by Mitchell Starc when he could not handle extra bounce in the first essay and then he was dismissed by Scott Boland in the second innings while meddling with fourth-stump delivery, which has been Achilles Heel in the last five years.

“He will have to forget this at the earliest. Somewhere or the other, the slight weakness he has outside the off-stump where he gets out many times, the Australian bowlers kept bowling in the same channel and exploited that weakness,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on Star Sports.

Pujara, who played a key role in India’s success in Australia on the last two tours, said it is imperative for Kohli to quickly move on from these low scores.

“Virat Kohli will just have to keep in mind that the way he batted in Perth, he made a big score, it will be expected from him that he plays a similar knock in Brisbane, but for that, when you have a failure, you have to emerge from it, forget it quickly and focus on the next match,” Pujara observed.

Pujara, who has observed Kohli from close quarters, said a weakness can become mentally tough to handle.

“This is also a game of the mind. As a batter, when your weakness is exploited somewhere, it keeps playing in your mind that you could get caught behind or in the slips. So he will have to forget it as quickly as possible,” he said.

“The corridor of uncertainty where he is getting out, just outside the off-stump, around the fourth stump, he will have to work a little on that, and he knows that. Virat is a batter who knows his game very well. So he will go to the nets and work on this, and we will expect to get better results in the next game,” Pujara observed.

The third Test match between India and Australia will be played at the Gabba, Brisbane from December 14.