Watch: When Pujara left Kohli and co in splits

Johannesburg: Leave, defend, take a blow on the body, leave, defend, take a blow on the body and then keep at it. Cheteshwar Pujara pretty much did that he scored nothing off the first fifty three balls he faced in the first innings of the third and final South Africa versus India Test here on Wednesday.

Like always, he did not look in any hurry and after the twin run-outs in the last Test, he did not seem in any rush to show he has improved his running between the wickets skills. Safety first, runs later was the order of the day for him; more so, after Murali Vijay and KL Rahul failed with the bat at the top.

However, there was no shortage of emotions as Pujara batted. There was a wry smile from him and Virat Kohli, who was batting alongside Pujara, a generous round of applause and laughter from the dressing room and the players, who were sitting in the dug out.

And lest we forget, a solid dose of appreciation, fun, sarcasm and laughter on social media as Pujara went about his business.

Pujara, at one point of time, was close to break an Indian record of consuming highest number of balls before opening his account in Test cricket. But he has pushed that record-date for some time later. For the records, Rajesh Chauhan took 57 balls to open his account during the third India versus Sri Lanka Test in Ahmedabad in 1994.

However, as soon as he opened his account on the 54^th ball, Pujara could not hold back his smile, Indian dressing room cheered for him and Twitter, like it always does, was on a roll.

Pujara, eventually, scored a gritty fifty as South Africa bundled out India for 187 before losing Aiden Markram.