Watch: Pujara twists ankle; braves the injury to bat on
Cheteshwar Pujara, India’s body-blow man, was at it again on day three of the Oval Test as he twisted his ankle while looking to take a quick double. Pujara, who raced off to a rollicking start which included a backfoot pull for six off Moeen Ali and a crunching cut off Craig Overton, was soon down on all fours as he twisted his ankle while trying to sneak an extra run.
It happened off the second last delivery of the 45th over when Pujara crunched a terrific shot off the back foot off Overton and took off for a double. However, after running the single, while trying to get back for a second run, the No.3 batsman twisted his ankle at the non-striker’s end and had to abandon the second run.
He was soon down, clutching his ankle in pain, and the physio rushed down to aid the batsman. It seemed like Pujara had seriously hurt himself and might walk off, but he resumed soon after receiving medical attention, another testimony to his resilience as a Test batsman.
Watch Pujara twisting his ankle here:
Pujara rolls his ankle but carries on batting pic.twitter.com/tgNrLqiWw4
— K I R A N
(@Kiran_reddy_k) September 4, 2021
Pujara twists his ankle
#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/JYpNFumGXS
— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) September 4, 2021
Earlier in the day, India’s fightback resumed on day three with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul defying odds to build a stand that nearly erased the deficit. Shortly before Rahul crossed his half-century, James Anderson produced a terrific delivery that forced Rahul to edge behind to the wicketkeeper.