Former India pacer Irfan Pathan expressed surprise at the fact that the Indian team has done so well in the last 2 years or so all while two of their experienced middle-order batters in Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane failing to score big runs consistently.
He also said that it is a worrying sign and sad to see Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane's average dipping in Test cricket, saying time is running out for the two senior batters.
He opined this after both the experienced batters failed to get going in the first Test against South Africa and continued the failures in the first innings of the second match as well.
Ajinkya Rahane, who was sacked as vice-captain ahead of the South Africa tour due to his lean patch, was dismissed for a golden duck on Monday at the Wanderers after Cheteshwar Pujara got out for 3, failing to take responsibility in the absence of Kohli.
Pujara, whose place in the Test side is also in danger, managed 19 runs in 3 innings so far in South Africa while Rahane showed intent during the first Test in Centurion only to fail with the bat in the first innings of the Johannesburg Test.
"Ajinkya Rahane showed a lot of intent with the way he played in the first innings. His footwork was decisive and he looked positive. But here (in Johannesburg), both of them were disappointing. These two, we are talking about senior players here, they have played more than 60 Test matches and when you have played that amount of Test cricket for India, you need to average more than 40. And if you look at their averages in the last 3 years, it has been under 30 and that is highly disappointing," Irfan Pathan told Star Sports.
Not only Pujara and Rahane, but captain Kohli has also been unable to score a century since November 2019 and this has put tremendous pressure on Indian batting over the last 2-3 years. Pathan said that the fact the team has done so nicely despite three batters not doing much is surprising.
Kohli has managed just 652 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 26.08 since the start of 2020. Pujara has hit 868 runs in 19 Tests in the same period at 25.52 while Rahane has hit 751 runs in 17 Tests at 24.22.
Despite this, India managed to win in Australia, beat England in England, beat New Zealand at home, and dominate South Africa in South Africa.
"Surprising that India is still doing well despite Virat Kohli not scoring runs, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in the same boat. They need to start performing consistently because guys are waiting in the wing,” Pathan said.
He added: "You could say that (time running out for Rahane and Pujara) because a guy who scored a hundred (on his debut) is waiting. He is not playing this game because of a stomach bug but apart from that, he would be saying in his head that 'look I am ready'. That is why Pujara and Rahane need to score runs. If they don't do that, surely, time will be running out.”
(Star sports inputs)
