Batting on day five won't be easy for England, says Pujara

“I do not think so, it is never easy to chase 400 on day four and five. There are not many teams who have done it. So, England do not have any psychological advantage. We wanted to set a target 400 and we got it,” Pujara said. 

The Indian batsman felt the team was better placed after taking the two wickets before close of play on Sunday. “We are happy with how things have gone so far. We took two wickets and we knew it wouldn’t be easy. We had our plans and we achieved what we wanted. We are happy about it, not to forget that day five will not be easy to bat on with cracks opening up,” Pujara added.

The batsman said the team is prepared to come hard at England on Monday. “They implemented their plans well in the last two sessions. It will be a tough day, things will not be easy for us. We won’t take things for granted. We know we need to come hard and we are prepared as a team. We know we have to work hard for our wickets but with the low bounce it isn’t an easy task for England,” Pujara added. 

In a desperate bid to take wickets, India used both the DRS chances available and both were turned down but Pujara said there was no confusion in the team about when to use DRS. “We are clear on DRS. We have discussed on how we want to implement and take calls, especially as a fielding unit. When we are batting, both the batsman will decide whether to take DRS or not. As a team we are clear on it,” he said. 

Pujara said India were right in wanting to make use of technology in close calls on Sunday. “It was right calls. We wanted wickets and the guys close to the wicket, felt it was close. If it was in our favour, we could have got a couple of more wickets,” the Rajkot-born player said.