#INDvAUS 3rd Test: Secret behind Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha combo's success

It was a frustrating day for the Australians on Sunday, so much so that their bowlers, particularly pacer Josh Hazlewood, resorted to some exchanging of words at Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha.

But Pujara and Saha told the Australian in polite words to "look at the scoreboard" before talking and "to go back and bowl" with a straight face.

Pujara and Saha are the last persons one would expect to pick up a war of words. Saha's family complains that he doesn't even get angry. With the bat in hand, they could put it across any type of opposition.

Pujara and Saha may be new to sharing a major partnership for India in Tests but they are not new to batting with each other in first-class cricket. Only in January this year, the two stitched together 316 unbroken for the fifth wicket in a winning cause for Rest of India against Gujarat in Irani Cup in Mumbai.

Here, when India were 328/6 and still needed 123 to level scores with Australia, Pujara found a suitable partner in the Bengal wicketkeeper Saha.

They first ensured that they see off the last hour of play on the third day on Saturday without much damage. They carried on batting on Sunday with the confidence of helping India first surpass the Australian total of 451 and then give their bowlers a handy lead to try and force a victory on the last day.

Time may have been a concern as only two days were left when they resumed play on Sunday. However, that was not something that India was going to worry as they have done earlier in the season, bowling out the opposition in the limited time in the second innings to carve out victories. And, when Ravindra Jadeja is spot on at the rough, any time available is sufficient for India.

Saha is known to accelerate the scoring, like he did in the Irani Cup. Though the quality of bowlers in Irani Cup and here are a lot different, his ability to score quickly was never doubted. But, the immediate task on hand was to first wipe out the deficit and then have a lead enough for the spinners to jump into action. There was no need to step on the pedal and spell trouble.

The manner in which Pujara and Saha built their partnership, thoughts of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid putting together 376 for the fifth wicket in March 2001 against Australia in the Kolkata Test ran across their minds.

Dravid and Laxman batted the entire fourth day of that Test without being separated.

The way Pujara and Saha went about the job on Sunday, batting the entire first two sessions, it seemed that they could repeat what their illustrious seniors did 16 years ago. That did not happen as after getting a sizeable lead, the focus was on scoring some quick runs.

But their most recent Irani Cup stand was what they looked upon to frustrate the tired Australian bowlers and take the game away from them.

"It (Dravid-Laxman stand and batting the entire day) was there at the back of the mind, yes," Saha said on Sunday. "The way Puji was batting, you didn't ever feel that a wicket would fall at one end. We had a 300-run partnership in the Irani Cup (in January), that was there on our mind too, that we can bat together for long."

For long they did bat together: five hours and 17 minutes for 199 that came in 466 deliveries.

Saha recalled what Pujara told him when he walked into bat.

"When I went into bat, Puji said let's aim for as long a partnership as possible, take it 10-15 runs at a time. I tried to do that, back my strengths and respect the good balls," Saha said.

Saha added that Pujara asked him to play with the same approach as in their Irani Cup stand. "In that game, Puji backed me and encouraged me to play my shots and be positive. The same approach was there today as well.

Even when I defended, I did it in a positive sense and when I played my shots, they were also in a positive sense. He backed me, hence it was possible to have a good partnership."

Backing one another is the essence of a good partnership. India's lower order has made immense contribution to victories this season that has made opposition totals in excess of 400 seem insufficient.

Australia head coach Darren Lehmann rated the Saha-Pujara partnership very high. "They were 6/340 and took the game away from us. They just applied themselves and played positively, putting away the bad balls. Once the ball lost its hardness it plays pretty well. The challenge for the group is to make the ball soft and play it from there," he said.

He hoped that his team learnt from the partnership and saved the match. "Pujara and Saha showed you can score runs on these kind of wickets. So, tomorrow the challenge for couple of batsmen will be to do that."

With the batting partnership of Saha and Pujara setting up the game nicely for India, it is for the bowling partnership of Ashwin and Jadeja to finish the job on Monday.