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To watch Cheteshwar Pujara walk out to bat is to picture a knight preparing for a joust. His face is helmeted, even against a non-stop diet of spin-bowling. There is that fabric-covered forearm protector as well, and the pre-ball ritual of raising his bat with both hands perpendicularly - probably to settle in on the right grip - adds to the theatre.But his fights do not deal in instant gratification. Pujara is an even-tembered and methodical warrior, which was on display in the Duleep Trophy final. He batted for nine hours to make his 10th first-class double-century. That doesnt mean he was slow, though. Pujara was unbeaten on 256 when India Blue declared on 693, and his strike-rate was an eye-popping 70.52. The innings addressed two aspects of his batting that have been held against him recently - the pace at which he makes his runs, and to a lesser extent, the pace at which he actually runs. It also made sure his side recovered handsomely after a bit of a bad start.India Red had broken through with the very first ball when Pradeep Sangwan prodded Dinesh Karthik to play one on to the stumps. Nathu Singh, at the other end, revved it up and, with a little help from the cracks on the pitch, made serious inquisition of the batsmens technique.While Sheldon Jackson, who eventually scored a hundred too, wasnt altogether comfortable in tackling Nathu, especially off a good length, Pujara almost always had the right response. The recurring image of the morning session was one of him striding forward and meeting the ball, rising off a length, high on the bat or realising it post no threat to his stumps and leaving it well alone. By fully committing to the front foot and keeping his hands soft to account for any sharp deviation or extra bounce, Pujara dissuaded Nathu from persisting with the tricky, in-between length, which can be quite dangerous on a slow pitch with variable bounce.Ever since Indias Test captain Virat Kohli mooted a five-bowler strategy, he has preferred having attacking batsmen who can, theoretically, ensure there is enough time to take 20 wickets. Pujaras strike-rate, along with a slight dip in form, was seen to be at odds to achieving this end, and as a result he found himself out of the side in Sydney and in Fatullah last year. He also had to deal with being omitted for the St Lucia Test last month to accommodate Rohit Sharma.Pujara, who had made 16 off 67 balls and 46 off 159 balls in his last two innings in the Caribbean, began the home season by scoring 166 at a strike-rate of almost 60 against India Green earlier this week. He went one better in this innings, reaching 50, 100 and 200 - not to mention his 10,000th first-class run as well - through boundaries.In scoring at the rate he did, he also stayed true to his batting template of initial caution before sustained acceleration. From 96 off 150 balls, he moved to 150 off 226 balls, slowed down a touch to reach 201 off 303 balls before accelerating again.There were signs typical of any Pujara knock - bottom-hand enforced drives and cuts, little flicks off the spinners - but there was also something new. It has long been felt that his dodgy knees hamper his running between the wickets but on Sunday in Greater Noida, he was taking the initiative to push Jackson for sharp singles and twos, remaining ever alert to runs off overthrows. He indulged himself a few hijinks in the end, too, attempting the sweep and the reverse sweep, not always convincingly.What required no convincing, though, was that he has made a near iron-clad case to walk out at No. 3 for the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur on September 22.Only one man in the history of Indian cricket has more double-centuries in first-class cricket than Pujara - Vijay Merchant, with 11 - and yet he flies under the radar. He was apparently not recognised by the immigration official at Heathrow on the way back from the West Indies. After Pujara had explained he was an international cricketer, he was asked if he had played alongside Kohli and Rohit.Nevertheless, what should hearten Pujara is the thumping vote of confidence he received from coach Anil Kumble, who was in attendance at the stadium to applaud his innings along with selectors Vikram Rathore and Saba Karim. Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap . 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A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. LONDON -- It was a foreboding touch to hear a gong-type noise played on U.K. television coverage as Andy Murray failed to save a fifth set point against Kei Nishikori in an epic 18-minute first-set tiebreaker on Wednesday.A similar booming sound played over Arthur Ashe Stadiums loudspeakers in Septembers US Open. After the mysterious noise, Murray melted down in a five-set quarterfinal defeat to Nishikori. But this time, Murray just about regrouped at the World Tour Finals to beat the world No. 5 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4.He still flirted with disaster here. Several times he got wound up into a similar state of agitation as he had in that fourth set at Flushing Meadows; he was distracted throughout, remonstrating with himself and shouting at his box.I didnt feel like I was hitting the ball as well as I would have liked, Murray later told a news conference. He was dictating so many of the points. For me it was frustrating. Didnt matter whether I tried to hit the ball a bit harder, adjusted my position on the court, nothing was making me hit the ball cleaner.As the match went on, I was getting kind of frustrated, then becoming like sarcastic with myself that I couldnt seem to hit the ball as clean as I wanted to. Yeah, I dont often do that, but today I was definitely being more sarcastic towards myself than usual.His frustrations almost cost him dearly when he failed to take two set points at 5-4 in the second set, having already been broken back once. He then needed four games to finally put away Nishikori, after building a 5-1 lead in the decider.No doubt about it, this was a step up in class for the Scot -- not since his French Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic in June had he faced a top-five opponent.There was nothing really in it, Murray admitted. He could have won in two sets, for sure. He was dictating many points. He had a number of chances.Murrays place in the semifinals is far from guaranteed, though, after Stan Wawrinka?rebounded from an opening loss to beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in Wednesdays evening session at Londons O2 Arena.If Wawrinka beats Murray in two sets, and Nishikori wins against Cilic, then Murray will be out of the tournament and Djokovic will finish as year-end No. 1. But if Cilic gets his first win here, Murray and Wawrinka will both qualify for the semifinals regardless.All I know is if I want to have a chance to qualify, I need to win, said Wawrinka. Thats all I know. Thats all Im trying to do.ddddddddddddIm going to try to play my best tennis, to beat the world No. 1. Its going to be a tough match. We played many times each other. Hes playing his best tennis so far. Its going to be interesting. Im happy to play here in front of his home crowd. Im sure its going to be a great atmosphere.One man who definitely wont be here at the weekend is Gael Monfils, who withdrew from the Tour Finals with a rib injury that he first picked up in Stockholm last month. The Frenchman had lost his opening two matches to Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem -- Djokovic will now play alternate David Goffin in his final round robin match Thursday.Definitely I cant play for tomorrow because I still feel worse and worse, my ribs, that I had lately, Monfils told a news conference. Yeah, I feel that even yesterday was tough in the game. I feel unfortunately today I couldnt be feeling great and couldnt practice, so I just decide that I couldnt play tomorrow.Monfils announcement pushed Murrays own news conference even further back -- the Scot had already been scheduled to come in to press two hours after his match against Nishikori finished.I was in the ice bath after the match, he said when he finally turned up. That obviously helps kind of make you feel a bit better. But, yeah, sort of 10, 12 hours afterwards the body starts to stiffen up. Im sure tomorrow Ill be a bit sore. But its positive I get a days rest, a days recovery tomorrow.He will need the rest -- this was officially the longest three-set match in Tour Finals history at 3 hours, 20 minutes.Not quite as long as the near five-hour epic between Murray and Nishikori that went five sets in the Davis Cup in March, nor the three hours, 57 minutes they played in New York, but still draining.While it wasnt a vintage performance, Murray found a way to get the job done, stretching his win streak to 21 matches, one short of his career-best set earlier this summer.For now, he is quickly learning that it is one thing to get to the top of the rankings, and another thing to stay there. He must match or outdo Novak Djokovics results here to finish year-end No. 1, and it could come down to a straight shootout in Sundays final.I think for the tournament and for everyone interested in tennis that would probably be the perfect way to finish the year, admitted Murray. ' ' '