Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta believes that the upcoming three Tests against Australia are going to be crucial for senior stars Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. With Virat Kohli to miss all the three games because of the paternity leave, all the eyes will be on the senior duo as India look to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India are already on the backfoot after losing the series-opener by 8 wickets. The visitors were all out for just 36 in the second innings of the match and will have to play out of their skin to make a comeback in the series against the spirited hosts. In such a tough situation, the onus will be on Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara to lift the morale of the team.
Ajinkya Rahane is going through a lean patch for quite some time now. In 2020, he has scored just 133 runs from 3 matches at an average of just over 22. Pujara, who was the highest run-scorer when India won the historic Test series in Australia a couple of seasons ago, has not been in great form either, scoring 143 runs at 23.83 with 54 being his highest score so far.
Ajinkya Rahane will be under immense pressure to deliver as he is also the captain of the team. And as he gears up for the test, Deep Dasgupta believes that the ongoing series is a big one for him as well as Pujara. He went as far as saying that the ongoing series could be a make or break one for Ajinkya Rahane.
“This is a big series for Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara. Specially in these times of crisis I think’s its going to be big. And there are a few comments in the comments section which mentions Ajinkya Rahane not doing anything outstanding.
“He’s had a few good games in the last 2-3 years, not too many hundreds but I completely agree. It could be a make or break series for someone like Ajinkya Rahane and even, maybe to a certain extent, Cheteshwar Pujara,” Deep Dasgupta told Sports Today.
Ajinkya Rahane is not new to captaincy. So far, he has led India in two Tests and guided the team to win in both the games while averaging 47 with the bat. Incidentally his first Test as captain was against Australia in 2017 before he led the team again in 2018 against Afghanistan.