'Hopefully, they'll go back...' - Sourav Ganguly opines on under-fire duo Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane
Published: Feb 02, 2022, 21:37 IST | Updated: Feb 02, 2022, 21:37 IST
Ganguly opines on under-fire duo Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are having a tough ride in international cricket for quite sometime. Before the South Africa Tests, in the rainbow nation early this year, Rahane-Pujara were already under the scanner for their dismal runs in the longest format of the game.
For Rahane, the senior pro had not scored a hundred since his flawless 112-run knock in the India-Australia MCG Test in late 2020. On the other hand, Pujara's century drought continues since early 2019. While Pujara has remained a vital cog with some half-centuries at regular intervals, much more is expected of him. Meanwhile, Rahane also lost his vice-captaincy position in whites owing to his dismal run with the bat.
The two senior batters had a chance to revamp in the India-SA Tests, however, both didn't have a great run in the three-match series. Both returned with a half-century each in six outings. For the unversed, Rahane returned with 136 runs at 22.66 in the SA Tests whereas the No. 3 batter Pujara ended with 124 runs at 20.66. Thus, calls for their omissions have intensified.
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In this regard, BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly has shared some advice for the under-fire pair. He told Sportstar, "Yeah, they are very good players. Hopefully, they will go back to Ranji Trophy and score a lot of runs, which I am sure they will. I don’t see any problem [for them to go back to domestic cricket after playing so much international cricket]. Ranji Trophy is a huge tournament, and we have all played the tournament."
"So, they, too, will go back there and perform. They have played the tournament in the past when they were only playing Test cricket and were not part of the ODI or limited-overs team. So, that won’t be a problem," he added.
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India's next Test assignment will be a two-match series versus Dimuth Karunaratne-led Sri Lanka, at home, in February-March. It will be interesting to see if Rahane and Pujara hold onto their respective spots -- despite intense competition with the presence of Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, etc. -- or not.
The BCCI selectors will also have to name Virat Kohli's successor in Tests after he resigned as the red-ball captain following the SA Tests.