Related Links: Australia Tour of India 2012/13 | India Vs Australia – 2nd Test Scorecard
Cheteshwar Pujara dominated the Aussie bowling to score 162* on Day 2 at Hyderabad | India Vs Australia, 2nd Test
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara gave a houseful crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad a perfect Sunday by scoring unbeaten centuries and in the process putting India in the driver’s seat by the completion of the second day itself! India are now in a winning position in the 2nd Test with a first innings lead of 74 runs with plenty of batting left!
India lost just the one wicket all through the day in 90 overs to come up with an intimidating total of 311 for 1. The hosts had a bad start though as Virender Sehwag tasted a third failure in a row, this time nicking a short of length delivery to the keeper from Peter Siddle that kicked away off the seam with pace and bounce. In the 9th over, Pujara joined Vijay and batted through the rest of the day’s play although the two batsmen were strangled in the morning session that saw India crawl to 54 for 1 in 30 overs.
The morning session hard work paid dividends to both Vijay and Pujara and post lunch, the two right handers cashed in as the Aussie fast bowlers – Pattinson and Siddle rested under the heat. The back up bowlers which included the two spinners – Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell were very ordinary and struggled to sustain any sort of pressure on the two Indian batsmen in the middle. By Tea, India consolidated to 160 for 1 in 63 overs with both the batsmen looking to notch up their centuries.
Australia were hoping to take wickets in a heap like how India did on Day 1 in the final session. However, it was a disastrous evening for the tourists as Pujara accelerated the scoring at the rate of knots following his 4th century and Vijay breathing easy having scored a place saving 2nd century. Even the second new ball could not separate the pair as India smashed as many as 151 runs in 30 overs. Murali Vijay is on 129* (from 288 balls with 17 fours and 2 sixes) while Cheteshwar Pujara has raced away to 162* (from 251 balls with 25 fours and a six). It was a great day for Pujara as his knock was followed closely by his beautiful wife Pooja Pabari who was present in the gallery.