Search the Community

After the rather surprisingly disappointing first innings played by Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane during the second Test of the India-South Africa Test series, the two cricketers have been the talk of the town as analysts and fans believe that they might be dropped from the squad as soon as the match is over. However, former Indian all-rounder, Irfan Pathan suggests that the captain of the Indian Test cricket team, Virat Kohli’s situation is not a lot different from Rahane and Pujara and that if he continues to show bad form and get out early due to lack of patience, the outcome may not be a lot different for him as well. View this post on Instagram "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," Pathan told Star Sports. On Day 1 of the Wanderers Test, Pujara took 33 deliveries to score just three runs and then get dismissed while getting completely stunned by Duanne Olivier and lofting an easy catch into the hands of Temba Bavuma. On the other hand, Rahane managed to get the first-ever golden-duck of his career in the longest format of the game. View this post on Instagram While Rahane did manage to put up some numbers during the first Test at the Centurion (48 and 20), it felt as if Pujara has been completely out of touch with the game as he got out on a golden duck in the first inning and hit 16 of 64 deliveries in the second. When it comes to Kohli, the numbers aren’t all that different. The Test skipper scored 35 and 18 in the first and second innings of Test 1, respectively and is missing from the squad for the second Test after suffering upper back spasms days before the match began. Kohli has also not hit a single century in over two years. His ton against Bangladesh during the November 2019 Pink Ball Test at Eden Gardens remains his most recent triple-digit score. ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Captain of ICC Test Team of the Year Captain of ICC Men's ODI Team of the Year Let's hear from the man himself, @imvKohli! #ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/3M2pxyC44n — ICC (@ICC) January 22, 2019 Pathan is surprised how the Men in Blue have managed to do so well in the longest format of the game despite Kohli’s seemingly ever-lasting slump in form. If India manages to win the Test series in South Africa, they would complete their quest for world dominance in Tests, including on the turf of the mighty SENA countries. "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 wings," Pathan said. View the full article