India's senior batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have continued to struggle for runs in the ongoing England tour, and former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra said the two of the Test specialists’ poor form is a worrying sign for the Indian cricket team.
Rahane and Pujara's poor form is a cause of concern for Team India, as the two have been struggling to score runs for so long in the longest format of the game, and the way the senior batsmen were dismissed in the ongoing five-match Test series against England so far showed that they weren't in the best of mindset and have not been able to work on their flaws.
Notably, Pujara has averaged just 27.78 from 9 Tests this year with scores of 15, 21, 7, 0, 17, 8, 15, 4, 12*, 9 whereas Rahane averages 19.21 from 9 Tests and scored 1, 0, 67, 10, 7, 27, 49, 15, 5, 1. While in the ongoing Test series in England, Rahane managed 5 and 1 in two innings, Pujara scored 4, 12*, and 9.
After Rahane (1) and Pujara (9) were again dismissed cheaply in the ongoing second Test with James Anderson coaxing the duo into fishing outside off-stump at Lord’s, Nehra said the two are the real worrying signs for the tourists.
Nehra said on the Sony Sports Network: “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.”
On Pujara, he 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.”
The former pacer also feels Rahane didn’t gain any confidence from his iconic innings against Australia at the MCG last year. He had led India to a historic Test series in Australia earlier this year.
He signed off by saying, “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.”
