Pujara, Rahane seek new vigour as India head to Lord's

That Pujara and Rahane are still under scrutiny means some gaps remain. There doesn’t seem any obvious weakness in technique. But with Kohli also not among runs, the focus on the two has intensified.

The pressure is never off Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The Lord’s Test starting Thursday will be Pujara’s 88th Test—he has 18 hundreds—and Rahane’s 76th—he has 12 hundreds.

Photos of Ajinkya Rahane (L) and Cheteshwar Pujara (R) (HT Collage)

Save for his first couple of seasons when he hit daddy hundreds, few series have started without a question mark over Pujara. Ditto for Rahane. Both have to constantly prove themselves and are facing scrutiny in this series too.

This time it started with skipper Virat Kohli’s comments after the World Test Championship final defeat against New Zealand in Southampton. Clearly hinting at Pujara’s modest strike rate, he said: “The idea from here on will be to try to score runs and not worry about getting out in testing conditions. That’s the only way you can score and put the opposition under pressure; otherwise you’re literally standing there hoping you don’t get out, and eventually you will because you’re not being optimistic enough. I think you have to take more risks and calculated risks and be confident about taking those risks against a quality bowling attack like New Zealand.”

At Southampton, Pujara made 8 off 54 balls (strike rate 14.81) and 15 off 80 balls (S/R 17.16).

With Kohli having played 93 Tests, for sheer experience, the current middle-order compares well with the Rahul Dravid-Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly-VVS Laxman, which held fort for over a decade.

On the eve of the Nottingham Test, to a question on Pujara, Kohli said: “It’s (criticism) been going on for a while; I honestly feel a player of his calibre and experience should be left alone and it should be absolutely with the individual to figure out what are the drawbacks in his game.”

That Pujara and Rahane are still under scrutiny means some gaps remain. There doesn’t seem any obvious weakness in technique. But with Kohli also not among runs, the focus on the two has intensified.

Pujara’s issue is poor strike rotation when building a partnership. It calls for a more fluent approach, which can be achieved with intent. On the 2018 tour, he found that extra gear, which helped score hundreds in England and Australia.

There’s a thin line between putting a price on your wicket and being bogged down trying to play safe. At Southampton in 2018, Pujara proved he can up his game. At Trent Bridge, there was a marked change in approach in the second innings.

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer, who has played a lot with Pujara and Rahane for their office team, Indian Oil Corporation, said: “There is pressure on the two because they haven’t performed consistently, as much as expected.”

Jaffer, a member of the last India team to win a series in England in 2007, said it is affecting India’s batting. “One reason why India haven’t won in England is because they are not able to put 350-400 runs on the board consistently, which our last team used to all the time. This time the bowling is a lot stronger, but to win in England, South Africa and New Zealand scores of 220 are not going to help.”

“Pujara is not someone who will hurt you straightaway, but if you don’t get the runs after spending time at the crease, it is going to hurt. Lot of people say Rahane needs to bat positively, he is at his best when he does that. So is Pujara. Just occupying the crease is not the way forward. In conditions like England, you are going to get good balls. So, they have to focus on intent once they get set… They have to put pressure on the bowlers, not let them bowl what they want.”

With Rahane, often his performance tapers off after an impact innings. Since his match-winning century at Melbourne, he’s got only one half-century. Despite starts, he hasn’t shown the mental discipline he did at the MCG. In the WTC final, he looked solid in both innings but couldn’t build on starts. Since his 112 at MCG, his scores are 27*, 22, 4, 37 and 24 in Australia, 1, 0, 67, 10, 7 and 27 versus England at home, and 49 and 15 in the WTC final. He was run out for 5 in the first Test.

In this batting line-up, Rahane is the only one to have a Lord’s century. The 2014 knock was all dazzling strokeplay. He will have to find that rhythm again.

The next four Tests are important for the two. It’s not about getting runs, it’s about getting hundreds. There is intense competition for places. This is the third tour of England for the core of the Indian batting unit. Having done well in different conditions, it’s strange they have failed to deal with English conditions. The answer may lie in a positive approach.