Pujara sweats it out in Saurashtra while Indian top-order falters in Rajkot

Cheteshwar Pujara hit the nets in the practice area of the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, the same venue where the India vs England third Test is currently going on. As ironic as it may sound, when Pujara started batting in the nets, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja were battling hard in the middle to bring India back into the contest. On a placid track, Mark Wood and Tom Hartley had run through India's top order in the first hour of play.

Saurashtra's batter Cheteshwar Pujara(PTI)

The inexperienced batting line-up with two players on debut and another one on his second Test, was up against it. And fans could not help but think about Pujara. The right-hander, who used to be India's rock at No.3 for more than a decade has been dropped from the side since the World Test Championship final against Australia last year. Shubman Gill has been India's No.3 since the West Indies tour but his returns have been rather unsatisfactory.

Under immense pressure, Gil did hit a century in the second innings in the Visakhapatnam Test but apart from that, he doesn't even a half-century to his name 13 innings now. On Day 1, he was done by a brilliant delivery by Mark Wood. The England pacer cut Gill in half with a sharp in-dipper and then got the next delivery to hold its line and find the outside edge. Gill was out for a duck - his fourth against England.