England vs India 2018: Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara Could Have Been More Consistent - MSK Prasad

The Indian selectors head MSK Prasad believes Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara could have been more consistent on the England tour. Rahane scored 257 runs in the ten innings whereas Pujara amassed 272 runs in the eight innings. Thus, India’s two reliable Test batsman was not at the top of their game throughout the series. Rahane scored a fine 81 in the third Test whereas Pujara scored a fine hundred in the fourth Test match at Southampton.

However, both the right-handers failed to come up with consistent performances as they could not deliver at regular intervals. India had high expectancy from these two experienced batsmen but they could make merry.

Rahane and Pujara could not deliver consistently.

Thus, Virat Kohli who scored 593 runs on the England tour was the lone warrior in the batting line-up. There was not much support for Kohli and India’s woes in the batting department continued to manifold.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

“When we pick players for particular slots, they should be given enough opportunities before we move on and look at youngsters. Yes, our openers could have done better. Having said that, the England openers also failed miserably. The conditions were tough and the openers of both the teams failed. Over the last few years, Pujara and Rahane have done well in those No. 3 & No. 5 slots. They have enough experience behind them to be the mainstay of our middle order. They did well here too but they could have been a bit more consistent,” MSK Prasad said while talking to the Times of India.

Meanwhile, there is no denying the fact the scoreline of the series could have been different had India won the crucial junctions of the series. However, India could not land the knockout punch despite having England on the mat.

India lacked the finishing touches.

“It was so close, yet so far. The results don’t reveal how intensely this series was fought but we all know the same results could have been in our favour too. We had our moments in the series which we should have encashed on. There are positives. I feel our fast bowling unit has done a fantastic job. Picking 60-plus wickets in five Tests was a testimony to their skill-set and a result of the fitness regimens and workload management we are following. I am extremely happy the way we fielded and took catches, but batting as a unit has to come to the fore,” MSK Prasad said.

Must Read | World Cup 2019 Schedule

It was disappointing for India to see themselves on the wrong side of the result. They were good in patches, however, could not apply the finishing touches.