Rahul Dravid backs under-fire Indian batters; 'When Pujara scores big, India wins'

Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has come in the defence on his senior batters who have been failing to impress at every given opportunity. The trio of Test skipper Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane has failed to shine with the bat in recent years. Virat Kohli at once seemed to be racing toward a hundred 100s but has been waiting for his 71st international century for two years now with Pujara and Rahane too not having achieved the feat in a long time.

"Hopefully, this Test match and the one after that is probably one of their opportunities to step up and play a big knock and convert one of their starts.  It happens to people at various stages in their career when you play for a long period of time. There are phases in your career where you're batting well but the big scores don’t necessarily come. It could just be happening that the two-three of them are going through that similar kind of phase at the same time. They know how to convert. It’s just a matter of time. They are in a good space. They have been preparing well. I just feel that there could be some good runs around the corner." Rahul Dravid said. 

IND vs SA: Pujara would have liked to have scored more runs

When being specifically asked about Test specialist Pujara’s lean run, Rahul Dravid said that the player sure would have liked more runs to his name and that he sure has been working hard to get back to the kind of success he earlier had and that the team would definitely like to have a contribution from Pujara's part as it puts the team in a really good position in the game.

“Certainly, he would have liked to have scored more runs. Someone like him sets really high standards for himself. He has achieved a lot of success in the tenure that he has played cricket. He knows the highs and the kind of success he has had. Obviously, he would like to replicate that. Sometimes it doesn’t happen. It’s not a question of being worried but, of course, if you do go set, it is really nice if one of your top three or four can convert that into a big score. We saw the value of that in Rahul’s hundred. It would be great if Pujara can do that. Because, when he does that, a lot of times India do win those games or we put ourselves in really good positions.” he added.

The recently concluded Test saw Pujara being dismissed for 0 and 16 while skipper Virat Kohli made 35 and 18 meanwhile Rahane scored 48 and 20 respectively. The IND vs SA 2nd Test is due to start on Monday, 3 December at 1:30 PM (IST). India are currently leading the three-match Test series 1-0 after having won the first Test by 113 runs.

Image: PTI