Team India batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s form have been worrying signs in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. In the wake of it, former India cricketer Ashish Nehra has tried to dissect what is going wrong for these two batters.
Although Rahane was India’s highest run-getter in the inaugural WTC cycle, however, his consistency remained questionable. On the other hand, Pujara’s barren run remains evident as his last ton came in the 2018-19 tour of Australia.
Kohli can't be clubbed with Rahane and Pujara for the very simple reason that Kohli's struggles are recent.
That's why his overall average is still over 40 in AUS, ENG, SA, and NZ since 2018. Rahane (28) and Pujara (37).
In addition to it, he has delivered in a wider variety
— Alagappan Vijayakumar (@IndianMourinho) August 13, 2021
Speaking to Sony Network, Ashish Nehra threw some light on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara’s poor run with the bat.
“It’s not like it’s been two or three matches. See, Virat Kohli has still hit a few half-centuries, getting into the 40s, but Pujara and Rahane are the real worrying signs, especially the manner in which they are getting out. They are senior players so it’s obvious that they know their game well. But in this case, it all comes down to temperament and how they come out of it,” Nehra said.
“Against Pujara, the bowlers have come up with this plan that since he does not score too many runs, we will bowl wicket-to-wicket line to him to get him either bowled or LBW. In this innings, Anderson bowled the sixth-seventh stump line to him to get him out caught in the slips.
“With Rahane, it’s that fourth and fifth stump line that he is getting out to. If you look at Australia, he scored a century at Melbourne, but given how he’s performed before and after that hundred, it doesn’t seem as if he gained any confidence from that innings,” Nehra added.
India lead by 245 runs in the first innings
The visitors started the day with KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane but England struck in the first over to remove both Rahul and Rahane to leave India stranded. Rahul only managed to add two runs to his overnight score but the useful contributions from Ravindra Jadeja (40) and Rishabh Pant (37) propelled the visitors to a challenging total of 364 runs.
In reply, England got off to a steady start but a double strike from Mohammed Siraj left them stranded at 23/2. Skipper Joe Root then consolidated the innings to keep the hosts in the game and were at 119/3 at the end of day 2’s play.