New Delhi: Former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly praised India batters KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara for their recent performances in the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club, in Colombo, on Thursday.
Rahul became the fastest Indian to achieve six consecutive half-centuries, equalling the record held by the likes of Gunduppa Viswanath and Rahul Dravid.
The Karnataka batsman previously missed the IPL and the ICC Champions Trophy due to a shoulder injury and also missed the first Test due to fever. The last time he played international cricket was the fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia, in Dharamsala, four months back.
Despite Rahul having missed India’s limited overs tournaments in England and West Indies, Ganguly believes that he is a player who can play well across all formats of the game.
“He’s a very good player. He’s a player for all formats for India. He’s got to be careful about his injuries. The more he plays the better he is going to be. The run-out was a misunderstanding. It happens. Rahul will be disappointed to not get a 100 against this attack,” Ganguly said to India Today.
Ganguly also praised Cheteshwar Pujara for his vital presence in Team India’s overseas tours and hoped he continues to perform well.
“Terrific player. It’s a remarkable turnaround since the West Indies tour. Doesn’t get picked in ODIs, doesn’t play IPL but he comes and gets runs in Test cricket,” Ganguly said.
“His hunger is amazing and it’s great to see him getting all these runs. Wish him many more and hopefully he continues the run-scoring spree. India will start to go away and Pujara’s form at No. 3 will be important,” he concluded.
