"Let him understand what needs to be done in that situation" - Harbhajan Singh on Rohit Sharma appearing to ask Cheteshwar Pujara to play big shots

Harbhajan Singh feels Cheteshwar Pujara should have been allowed to play the way he wanted and that Rohit Sharma shouldn't have asked him to take a more aggressive approach if the Indian skipper had done so.

Rohit evidently sent Ishan Kishan to convey a message to Pujara to hit over the top as the field was up for him during India's second innings of the third Test against Australia in Indore on Thursday, March 2. The dogged batter hit a six over wide long-on a few deliveries later but was dismissed soon thereafter.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan was asked about his thoughts on the apparent instructions from Rohit Sharma to Cheteshwar Pujara, to which he responded:

"I don't know what was the actual message sent. If the message was to look to play over mid-on, the player who is inside knows the situation and conditions the best and what the ball is doing. Let him play, let him understand what needs to be done in that situation."

The former Indian spinner highlighted that Pujara was the best judge to figure out the feasibility of playing a big shot, stating:

"No one can judge better than him how easy or difficult it is to hit over mid-on. Watching from the outside, we feel that he can hit above mid-on, but sometimes it does not happen."

Pujara scored a 142-ball 59, the only Indian to score a half-century in the game. He struck five fours, apart from the solitary six he hit off Nathan Lyon's bowling.

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"Cheteshwar Pujara is certainly a player who will first do what the team needs" - Harbhajan Singh

Cheteshwar Pujara is generally not known for playing the big shots. [P/C: BCCI]

Harbhajan Singh believes the team's interest will always be Pujara's top-most priority, observing:

"If there is a situation where a message comes from outside that the team is asking you to do something, Cheteshwar Pujara is certainly a player who will first do what the team needs. If the team needed runs there, he went for that."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Pujara's six did surprise him as the Saurashtra batter is capable of playing the big shots, saying:

"I think he is more than capable of hitting sixes. An atmosphere has been created that Pujara cannot hit over the top. I think if he wants to do that, he can do it better than a lot of the players. A Test cricketer can become a good T20 player but a T20 player can never become a good Test player. So Pujara's shot did not surprise me."

India were bowled out for 163 runs after Pujara's dismissal. Australia need 76 runs in the final innings to win the Test and keep alive their hopes of drawing the four-match series.