India tour of England: Laxman wants Cheteshwar Pujara to repeat Rahul Dravid’s heroics in England– India’s batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara is going through a lean patch. The upcoming 5-match series in England is a good opportunity for him to come back to form. Former India cricketer, VVS Laxman, wants the No.3 batsman to repeat Rahul Dravid’s heroics as Virat Kohli & Co eyes series win for India in England after 13 years.
“There is no doubt that Pujara will be mindful of the lean patch he is going through, as far as scoring those big fifties or scoring those hundreds and you expect a lot from Pujara at the No.3 position because that is a very important position along with both the openers,” Laxman told Star Sports.
“In 2002 and 2007, the reason behind our victories on those two tours was because our top order and our No.3 batsman, which was Rahul Dravid, they fired. Once the top order sets a very good foundation, it allows the middle-order batsmen to come and play their natural game and while doing that you post a very healthy total in the first innings and you are always dictating the terms,” Laxman added.
India tour of England: Laxman wants Cheteshwar Pujara to repeat Rahul Dravid’s heroics in England
India’s last win in England came under the leadership of Dravid in 2007. Rahul Dravid had scored 602 runs against England in the 2002 four-match series. He followed it up with 126 runs during the three-Test series in 2007 and 461 runs in 2011 (4-match Test series).
The last time when India had toured England, Cheteshwar Pujara has slammed a century. He has 523 runs in 10 test matches at an average of 27.53. It is the third-best average for current India batsman touring England, after Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli. However, he needs to improve his performance after failing to score a single half-century in the last 8 innings (including the Durham practice match)
All eyes will be on Pujara as India eyes only fourth series in England (after 1971, 1986 and 2007).
India tour of England: Laxman wants Cheteshwar Pujara to repeat Rahul Dravid’s heroics in England
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