Cheteshwar Pujara came to the defence of his teammate Ravindra Jadeja after several former India greats - like Anil Kumble, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Sourav Ganguly - criticized Jadeja for batting too defensively during India’s narrow defeat at Lord’s.

Jadeja remained unbeaten on 61 off 181 balls in India’s second innings at Lord’s, but critics argued he should have taken a more aggressive stance, especially against spinner Shoaib Bashir. Pujara, however, countered that Jadeja had no other choice. “He couldn’t have scored faster on that track… the ball was soft, the pitch was on the slower side,” Pujara explained to the Indian Express.

He added that Jadeja’s cautious approach also considered the tailenders still batting and the negligible scoring opportunities. “The only thing he could have done better is to look to score down the ground… very difficult to score runs on that pitch,” Pujara noted.

Pujara emphasized that Jadeja’s innings was a testament to patience and grit under testing conditions - qualities that deserve celebration rather than criticism. His strong defence not only highlighted Jadeja’s resilience but also Pujara’s own understanding of Test match temperament.