IND vs ENG | Pujara crucial for our team, no one questioned his slow batting approach: Rahane
Ahead of the second Test against England, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Friday backed Cheteshwar Pujara's batting approach and said that the team is happy with the way he played during Australia tour.
Pujara, generally known for his resilience and defensive approach to batting, was criticised by many former cricketers including Ricky Ponting due to his slow batting approach in Australia. Ponting, unimpressive with Pujara not being proactive in the middle, slammed the right-hander for putting pressure on other batsmen with his style of batting.
"No one questioned his approach (slow) about his batting in the team and that's what matters. What people talk outside doesn't matter to us. We know Pujara's role and how crucial he is for our team and we are really happy with the way he played in Australia and the way he is playing right now.
His role very important for us and we back him completely on how he wants to play. He knows his game really well. he has played 80 odd Test matches. No one questioned his ability or how he played in Australia," said Rahane in a virtual press conference.
Rahane, who led India to historic Test series win in Australia, also backed spinners to do well after being uneventful in the first match. Since Axar Patel is now available for selection, the All-India Senior Selection Committee has added Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar to the list of standby players. On the back of Joe Root's batting masterclass and James Anderson's reverse swing sorcery, England defeated India by 227 runs in the first Test at Chepauk to go 1-0 up in the four-match series.
"Everyone is in the mix, the good thing is Axar is fit to play. See all our spinners are really good and if given a chance I'm sure they will do really well," said Rahane
