Pujara's troubles against Cummins a 'concern', says Zaheer

Gallery

MORE...

Sports

Hockey India names Amir Ali-led 20-man team for Junior Asia Cup

Hockey India on Monday announced the 20-member squad for the Men's Junior Asia Cup, a qual

Harmanpreet Singh named FIH Player of the Year, PR Sreejesh gets best goalkeeper award

World Boxing medallist Gaurav Bidhuri to flag off 'Delhi Against Drugs' movement on Nov 17

U23 World Wrestling Championship: Chirag Chikkara wins gold as India end campaign with nine medals

FIFA president Infantino confirms at least 9 African teams for the 2026 World Cup

Hockey, cricket, wrestling, badminton, squash axed from 2026 CWG in Glasgow

MORE...

Pujara's troubles against Cummins a 'concern', says Zaheer

Last Updated : 31 Dec 2020 12:52:21 AM IST

Cheteshwar Pujara

Australian speedster Pat Cummins having the upper hand over Indian batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara is an area of concern for India but it is also symptomatic of batsmen finding it difficult to score runs throughout the series, former fast bowler Zaheer Khan has said.

Pujara, who scored 521 runs at an average of 74.42 on India's previous tour of Australia in 2018, has been dismissed three out of four times by Cummins in the first two Tests of the four-match series. The batsman is yet to score a half-century.

"There is no doubt that it is a topic of concern. But it is similar to the way we were talking about Steve Smith, that he will get the feel, he said he found his grip in the one-dayers," said Zaheer on Sony Sports Network.

"He has to figure out that thing because it was the same attack against whom he had scored three centuries in the last series. Yes, the angle of Cummins's deliveries are troubling him and somewhere or the other I feel this is form-related."

Zaheer said that Pujara may have to reconsider his trigger movement and could be helped by revisiting the 2018/19 tour.

"It could be the trigger movement; he might have to go back down memory lane and think about it. He just has to get that feel," he said.

"Yes, if Pat Cummins had not played in the previous series and not exploited his weakness like this, then it would have been a different thing but he has played him in the last series and scored centuries when he was there."

Commentators have often observed that Pujara has been felled by extremely good deliveries from Cummins, who is the top ranked Test bowler in the world. Zaheer feels that it is only a matter of time before the India's Test batting stalwart comes good.

"I think it is a matter of time. We should see it from that viewpoint but at this moment, you can say that it has become a slight area of concern," he said.