Ajinkya Rahane And Cheteshwar Pujara "Players Of Pedigree": Aakash Chopra After Veteran Batters Hit Fifties In Johannesburg

Former India opener Aakash Chopra heaped praise on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. The veteran batters hit attacking half-centuries on Day 3 of the second Test match against South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg to give India breathing space in their second innings. Both Rahane and Pujara, under fire for their prolonged lean patch in Test cricket, came out to bat on Wednesday with a lot of positivity and scored at more than five runs per over in the first hour. Pujara was the first to get to his fifty followed by Rahane. The duo stitched a 111-run stand for the third wicket before Kagiso Rabada dismissed both of them in quick succession. Rahane was the first to go for 58 when he edged one and then Pujara was trapped LBW for 53. 

Chopra said Pujara and Rahane are players of "pedigree" and that's why it is important to "invest" in experienced players like them.  

"This is why you invest in experience. These are players of pedigree. Pujara and Rahane came back with a very positive intent," Chopra said in the post-lunch show on Star Sports. 

The former opener said Pujara would be better off trying to score runs as that has more often than not brought success for the right-hander 

"If you go back to the last year or two, you will find that in all the good innings that Pujara has played there has been one common factor and that is he has looked for runs. He has just gone out trying to react to the ball. When you are going through a bad patch, it's easier said than done. But every now and then you've just got to remind yourself that I'm probably focusing on too factors instead of just reacting to the ball. Last innings of this Test, you know there's no Virat Kohli, the openers haven't given you the start that you've always got and if we don't do well here... Forget about yourself, think about the team and that is where you get back into the groove, you find your mojo," he added. 

Chopra hoped that now Rahand and Pujara won't be playing to save their careers and instead make a lot of runs for India.  

"Same for Rahane. Hopefully, we'll be talking about the runs that they've scored and not that there are careers are on the line or handing by a thin thread because it's not good for people who have played so much cricket," he said.  

Topics mentioned in this article

South Africa vs India 2021/22 India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Ajinkya Rahane Cheteshwar Pujara Aakash Chopra Cricket