Pujara, Vijay, Ashwin: What ‘Test Specialists’ Have Been Up To

After registering a win in the T20 series and losing the ODI series, India are set to play a five-match Test series against England from 1 August. The visiting side suffered disastrous losses in the previous two Test series in England, losing 0-4 in 2011 and 1-3 in 2014. However, this time, Virat’s team have a balanced side to compete with a far more inexperienced English side.

Even though prime speedsters Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are recovering from injuries, the visitors have enough firepower in their bowling attack to rattle the likes of Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings and Dawid Malan.

If the conditions remain warm and dry in England, then the spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav could play a huge part in the series.

Here’s a look at the what the Indian Test specialists have been up to in the recent past.

Cheteshwar Pujara

While most of the Indian players were busy in the Indian Premier League, Cheteshwar Pujara made his way to England to play County cricket. It was the perfect thing to do, since India had a gruelling Test series scheduled in England.

However, in 12 County innings, Pujara just managed 172 runs at an average of 14.33. The 30-year-old recorded a highest score of 41 against Essex. There were a couple of innings in which Pujara’s team Yorkshire struggled. In the first innings against Somerset, Yorkshire were all out for 96 runs and in the first innings against Essex, they were bundled out for 50 runs.

This shows that the conditions were tough to bat in those two innings, but in the rest of the 10 innings, batsmen such as Gary Ballance and Harry Brook shone with the bat.

In the practice match against Essex, Pujara recorded meagre scores of 1 and 23 for India.

However, Pujara had a decent outing at the Royal London One-Day Cup. He scored 370 runs in 8 innings at an average of 52.85.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma, who also travelled to England to play County cricket, had a better time than Pujara. The fast bowler picked up 15 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 23.06. He returned with best figures of 4/52 against Kent, but he couldn’t help his team Sussex win the match.

The 29-year-old played in the Royal London One-Day Cup as well. He took 8 wickets in 5 matches.

In the practice match against Essex, Ishant returned with figures of 3/59.

Murali Vijay

Opening batsman Murali Vijay hasn’t played many games since India’s tour of South Africa in January. The 34-year-old, who sustained a rib injury during the pre-IPL camp, played just one match in the tournament.

Thereafter, Vijay played a Test match against Afghanistan, against England Lions for India A and the practice match against Essex, recording scores of 105, 8, 0 and 53 in four innings.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane, who had a disappointing IPL, has played only three matches since the tournament. The 30-year-old scored 370 runs in 15 IPL matches for Rajasthan Royals.

The middle-order batsman, who hasn’t been in the best of form, recorded scores of 10, 49, 48, 17 and 19* in the matches against Afghanistan, England Lions and Essex.

Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami, who played only four matches in the IPL, has played only one professional match after the T20 competition. The fast bowler, who failed the Yo-Yo test in June, missed the Test match against Afghanistan.

However, Shami cleared the Yo-Yo test in July and made his way back to the Test team. Shami failed to pick up a wicket in the practice match against Essex, returning with figures of 0/68.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin, who had a horrendous IPL, has played just five professional matches since the T20 tournament. Ashwin conceded 410 runs and picked up 10 wickets in 14 matches for Kings XI Punjab. He bowled at an economy rate of 8.09.

After the IPL, Ashwin played the Test match against Afghanistan, three matches in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and the practice match against Essex.

In the Test match, Ashwin took five wickets, and in the three matches in TNPL, Ashwin took 6 wickets for 89 runs. In the match against Essex, Ashwin bowled only 5 overs, returning with figures of 0/29.

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja, bowled brilliantly in IPL 2018, picking up 11 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 27.54 for the Chennai Super Kings. After the IPL, Jadeja has played just two matches – those against Afghanistan and Essex.

Jadeja took 6 wickets against Afghanistan and returned with figures of 0/17 after a two-over spell against Essex.

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