Scoring his second century in the ongoing series that laid the platform for India’s big first-innings total in the third Test, Cheteshwar Pujara believes his team has put enough runs on the board to trouble Australia.

Talking to reporters after stumps on Day II, Pujara, who scored 106 to register his 17th Test century, said the MCG pitch is a “tough” one to score on and getting even 200 runs on a day isn’t an easy task.

“We have to bat like the way the wicket is behaving and what the situation is. On this pitch, every batsman has to play a lot of balls to score runs.

“If it was a different wicket, maybe I would have scored 140-150 after playing so many deliveries. But in Test cricket, it is important to read both the situation and the pitch when batting…

“In other words, I think it is a tough pitch to score on. If we look at first two days, the runs scored are very less and in a way I would say that getting 200 in a day is a tough task, so I think in that sense we have enough runs on the board,” said Pujara.

The variable bounce will create problems for Australia, feels Pujara, who himself got a delivery off Pat Cummins that kept quite low after pitching. “As batsmen, there are always doubts when playing on such pitches and the ball which I got out to, I couldn’t have done anything about that.

“So, if it stays low, you have limited options,” Pujara explained. “As we have seen, the pitch has already started deteriorating and has variable bounce on it.

“When I was batting on Day I and on Day II, I did feel there was a difference. So, I don’t think it’s easier to bat now.

“I think it will get tougher to bat and our bowlers have been bowling well, so as I said, I think we have enough runs on the board,” he added.

The variable bounce in the pitch will help Indian bowlers as well, Pujara believes. “As batsmen, it is tough to get used to this pace. You will get a slower one, and one odd ball kicks up and I got hit on my finger three-four times.

“Those were not short balls. They were back of a length deliveries and I got hit on my gloves.”

Low bounce, though, didn’t affect Pujara. “Low bounce didn’t affect me a lot because I always trusted the bounce on this pitch. But when you have variable bounce, it becomes difficult.”

Elaborating on his own knock, Pujara said he never felt or thought about silencing his critics, who can be kept at bay with match-winning efforts.

“When I play international cricket, I don’t need to silence anyone. I just need to keep scoring runs and that is what I love to do.”