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. Discount Jordan 4 Motorsport . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Discount Jordan 4 Royalty . From filmmaker Nanette Burstein (On the Ropes), The Price of Gold revisits the saga that rocked the figure skating world ahead of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Winter Games: the assault on Nancy Kerrigan, and the plot that led its way back to her rival Tonya Harding. http://www.wholesalejordan12.com/ . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Air Jordan 4 Wholesale . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Cheap Jordan 12 Flu Game . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Justin Fuentes new offense is getting a lot of attention during a three-game winning streak that has lifted Virginia Tech back into the national rankings, but the No. 17 Hokies defense cannot be overlooked at all.The Hokies (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have scored 132 points in the streak, including 49 against a Boston College team that was among the nations defense leaders. But Virginia Tech has also allowed just 20 points in the games, and 17 of them came in mop-up time during a 54-17 victory against East Carolina.The Hokies, who limited high-powered North Carolina to just 131 yards in a 34-3 victory Saturday , have the nations No. 2 pass defense (allowing 132 yards per game) and the No. 3 overall defense (allowing just 238 yards per game).Its what longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster was hoping to see after a subpar performance in 2015.Im not really surprised, redshirt junior linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka said Monday. Coach Foster is a genius and were just always confident in his game plan and stuff like that, and execute whatever he wants.The first 17 of the opponents points came after Virginia Tech led East Carolina 38-0 at halftime on its way to a 54-17 victory . The last three came Saturday as the Hokies limited a high-powered Tar Heels team to 131 yards.In Fosters constant drive for perfection, his players know better than to think they have it figured out, even though they have risen from an afterthought to No. 17 in the country and looking like Coastal Division contenders.The Hokies (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) will try to bolster their credentials further on Saturday at Syracuse (2-4, 0-2), where the Orange are running a new, fast-paced and potent offense, but struggle on defense.First-year Hokies coach Justin Fuente said he learned long ago, while serving as the offensive coordinator under Gary Patterson at TCU, that a wise head coach lets his coordinators master their expertise without meddling.ddddddddddddThats the way were doing it here with Bud, Fuente said. I want those guys to feel like they can go game plan and really hone in on their area of expertise within the frameworks of what were trying to set forth as a team. How nice is it to have good coaches on your staff? Its fantastic, whether its Bud, or (sepcial teams coordinator) James Shibest or (offensive coordinator) Brad Cornelsen or any of the guys that weve got.Foster, in his 30th season at Virginia Tech and 21st as defensive coordinator, has created a defensive culture in which his players are well aware of a decorated past, and their duty to make sure they join the ranks.It keeps them from getting comfortable when things seem to be going well.We always want to keep getting better each and every game, cornerback Brandon Facyson said. Theres always something we can work on to make our defense better than what it was the week before. Each week we just go into it (and see) what are the little things that we can fix to make our defense go to a step up from last weeks game.In the new world of Fuente and Foster, its the way both insist their players think.It truly is 12 one-game seasons. All those things can disappear if we dont take care of our business, Fuente said, adding that its the way the team has approached each game to date that has made their success happen. ... If we stop doing things, then well no longer find ourselves in this situation.---Online: The APs college football page: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjr ' ' '