Veteran wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik stated that both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane would not be happy with their outings on Day 1 of the first Test between India and New Zealand as well. Both of them got out by poor shot selection against pace bowling and their poor form once again came under the scanner before the important overseas tour of South Africa.
Karthik said that their constant low scores in the recent past have added more pressure from the outside on Pujara and Rahane as well. Moreover, the players like Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav are there to replace them permanently. Notably, Iyer smashed a ton on his debut as well.
While speaking on Cricbuzz, Karthik said:
“I think they would be disappointed and there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, there’s talk outside about them that they need to score hundreds because they haven’t for some time. So with every match, the pressure seems to increase.”
“Obviously, because Test match is played sporadically they are not under the spotlight as often, because there’s been a lot more white-ball cricket with the World Cup and the T20Is against NZ. But once Test cricket starts with full tilt again, every time they don’t score runs, they’ll come under the spotlight, so to say in a negative way. And with every game voices from outside seem to get louder,” he further added.
Rahul Dravid knows the value of a Pujara and a Rahane – Dinesh Karthik
Meanwhile, with the century, Shreyas Iyer made a strong case for himself as well in the absence of Virat Kohli and a few big names as well. However, Dinesh Karthik also believes that Rahul Dravid is the right person to get them back on track also.
“Having said that, Rahul Dravid knows the value of a Pujara and a Rahane. I think somewhere the quality of Rahul Dravid will come out through these two batters because of very similar methods and very similar styles of play. So maybe he feels that he can get the best out of them and sort of a second re-living for them and Rahul Dravid might be the catalyst, for their test career propelling forward,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.
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