Veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara has backed both Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair to succeed at No. 3 despite their underwhelming display on the tour of England.
Both of them were made to bat one down across five Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. However, the duo didn’t have memorable outings in the series, recording just a couple of 50+ scores between them.
While Sudharsan amassed 140 runs from six innings at an average of 23.33, Nair scored 205 runs from eight innings at an average of 25.62.
“Look, young players need a little time to mature. Sai Sudharsan has shown potential — he has performed once. Karun Nair has also performed. So gradually, as they gain experience, their game will keep improving. You can't expect every player to score two or three hundreds every time, especially since they are young players, so they need time. And this is a good phase the Indian team is going through — because it was a tough series, and managing to draw it 2-2 shows that every player contributed. So moving forward, this team will definitely perform well,” Pujara told India Today.
Moreover, Pujara expressed confidence in skipper Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir to take the Indian Test team to new heights.
“The team has won a lot of sessions. So if we talk only about this series, yes, it ended in a draw — but in my opinion, it’s nothing less than a win. This is a victory for the Indian team. Indian cricket is in the right hands and the way all the young players are performing, it’s very promising,” he added.
India won the fifth Test against England at the Oval by a narrow margin of six runs to pull off a 2-2 draw. England were in a dominant position on Day 4 when Harry Brook (111) and Joe Root (105) combined for a 195-run fourth-wicket stand that propelled the hosts past 300. At 301/3, they were favorites but Indian bowlers staged a great fightback, claiming three late wickets to reduce them to 339/6 at stumps.
On the final day, the Three Lions were 35 runs away from chasing a 374-run target, with four wickets in hand. However, Mohammed Siraj ripped through England’s lower order, ending their innings at 367.
