With Cheteshwar Pujara having scored his last Test ton way back in January 2019, cracks in India's modern-day wall were very evident. Though he missed out on ending that dry run in Leeds by just 9 runs but Pujara did find form and scored 91 when India was in a dire need of it.
It didn't come easy as Pujara didn't just change his approach but his mindset as well. When KL Rahul fell for 8 on Day 3 of the Leeds Test, England may have been happy to expose India's wobbly middle order early on, but a different Cheteshwar Pujara walked out in the middle. He showed signs of his class from the word go and looked a lot free flowing with his approach.
While Pujara of the recent past would have consumed a lot of deliveries to get off the mark, this new Pujara delt in boundaries. Soon, he brought up his Test half-century in 13 innings but not done just yet. He became more fluent with his stroke play and dominated the spinners from there on. As Pujara ended Day 3 at 91 not out, Rohit Sharma lavished praise on the Saurashtra lad, saying that the squad never doubted him.
He may have missed out on a hundred, but the Indian team management would be glad that Pujara finally got the monkey off his back with a score that should give him confidence and would also hope that he continues with the same mojo for the rest of the series.