IND v NZ – We are pretty certain that they will bounce back, says Rathour about Pujara or Rahane

Kanpur, Nov 28, : Indias batting coach Vikram Rajhour supported senior batters Cheteshwar and Ajinkya Pujara on Sunday to rebound from a poor run of form.

He refused to speculate on whether Shreyass century and half-century in their respective innings of his debut Test were enough to propel either Pujara nor Rahane out the playing eleven for the second Test at Mumbai.

"Of course you want the top-order members to contribute.As you mentioned, cricketers who have played in 80 and 90 Test matches have the experience.

They must have done well to be able to play so many games.While I am aware that they are in a difficult phase, I know they have played very important knocks in the past.

We are confident that they will bounce back and play very important knocks for our team in the future," Rathour said, responding to a question about the lackluster returns of the senior cricketers.Rahane has scored 411 runs in Test matches this year at an average of 19.57 runs per innings, with only two half-centuries.He was expected to do a lot in the first Test, but Rahane scored 35 runs and 4 runs.

His Test career average is now below 40.Pujara on the other side hasnt scored a century in the 100-run race since his 193 run against Australia in the 2019 Sydney test.Many are baffled by Pujaras inability to convert a start into a big score without much fluidity, despite his playing role in important knocks on tours of Australia and England.

Pujara scored 26 runs in this Test and 22 runs in the other innings.Rathour was asked how long the team management could continue despite diminishing returns from both batters.

Rathour replied, "I don’t think we are able to put a number on that." It all depends on the teams situation and what they need.

It will all happen in the next match with the captain (Virat Sharma).We will reach that point when we reach Mumbai.We are now focused on this game.

There is still one day to go, and there is still a game to win.We are focused on this game, and we will get there once we land in Mumbai." Rathour did not confirm that Iyer would be retained for the Mumbai Test, despite him scoring 170 runs in his first Test.

"As I have said before, that decision will be taken when we land in Mumbai on the eleven we will be playing." nr/c #bounce #Pujara #Rahane #Mumbai #Cricket #BCCI #ICC #IPL.