Summary:
Kanpur, Nov 28 (PTI) Batting coach Vikram Rathour "understands" fully that Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are now India players living on borrowed time.
But the former opener on Sunday couldn"t give a definitive answer as to who would sit out in order to accommodate skipper Virat Kohli"s comeback in the next Test against New Zealand.
With Shreyas Iyer scoring 105 and 65 on debut, it would be almost criminal to drop the stylish Mumbaikar, and understandably, Rathour had to fend questions on Pujara and Rahane"s form going into the Mumbai Test, starting on December 3.
"Of course, you want the top-order to contribute but cricketers (Pujara and Rahane) you mentioned they have played 80 (79 for Rahane) and 90 Tests (91 Test for Pujara).
"Of course, to play that many games, they must have done well for us," Rathour tried his best to defend the 2021 Test average of below 20 by the stand-in captain (19.57) and 30.42 by his deputy.
"We understand that both of them are going through a lean phase but we understand that they have both played very, very important knocks for us in the past.