IND vs NZ 2021: Everyone Is Backing Ajinkya Rahane And Cheteshwar Pujara - Bowling Coach Paras Mhambrey

Indian team’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey stated that the entire team is backing the senior experienced duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara despite consistent failures over the last few years.

On a good batting track in Kanpur against New Zealand, Rahane put up scores of 35 and 4 while Pujara managed 26 and 22. While Rahane’s average this year is far worse than that of Ravichandran Ashwin’s, Pujara hasn’t reached the 3-figure mark since making 193 against Australia in the 2019 Sydney Test.

However, the Indian team management continues to back them, as revealed by Mhambrey: “I think with both Ajinkya and Pujara, we know that they have a lot of experience behind them. They played enough cricket, and we also know as a team that they are one innings away from coming back into form. So, as a team, everyone is behind them and backing them,” he said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday.

“Just one innings away from getting back to form” – Paras Mhambrey

Similar to Rahul Dravid and the rest of the bunch, Paras Mhambrey also insisted that it is a matter of one innings before the duo gets back to form. The statement doesn’t come as a surprise since Rahane and Pujara have received the longest rope among Indian Test batsmen.

“We know that the value they bring to the team, the experience that they have will come good. So, it is just one innings away from getting back to the form. They have played enough cricket to understand what is expected out of them and what is required to get that going,” Mhambrey added.

Virat Kohli will return to the Test setup for the second Test that is scheduled to be held in Mumbai. It will be interesting to see if he replaces Shreyas Iyer, the man who broke a couple of records on his Test debut, or Rahane.

Also Read – IND vs NZ 2021: Wriddhiman Saha’s Availability Uncertain, Call To Be Taken Soon, Confirms Paras Mhambrey