3 Indian players who flopped in the 3rd Test against England
The 3rd Test between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad lasted less than two days, so it's not a surprise that many players had disappointing outings.
Even in the victorious Indian side, a number of world-class batsmen failed to fire. The team was spearheaded by the heroics of spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin, apart from a classy fifty from Rohit Sharma. The rest of the side didn't contribute much to the comprehensive 10-wicket win.
Here are 3 Indian players who flopped in the 3rd Test against England.
#3 Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara has had some rotten luck in this series. An unfortunate run-out and a pull shot that ricocheted off short leg into a fielder's waiting palms meant that he came into this game without many runs under his belt.
Unfortunately, Pujara failed to trouble the scorers in his only innings in the 3rd Test. An arm ball from Jack Leach trapped him in front of the stumps, and India's No. 3 made the disappointing walk back after just 4 balls.
Pujara now hasn't scored a Test century since January 2019 - 27 innings without crossing the 3-figure mark. He certainly has played his part for India though, with his fighting fifties in the previous series against Australia still fresh in memory.
Pujara will be itching to get back amongst the runs, and the 4th Test against England at the same venue might present a good opportunity.
#2 Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill is only 6 Tests into his career, and he has displayed maturity beyond his years at the crease so far. But he has run into a brief rough patch in this series, with scores of 0, 14, 11 and 15* over the last two Tests.
The manners of dismissal have been concerning. This Test saw Gill play a careless pull against Jofra Archer to a ball that was well outside off-stump. The resultant top edge was safely pouched by Zak Crawley, and the opener was the one of only two wickets to fall against pace in the Test.
Even in the previous Test at Chennai, Gill was out shouldering arms against Olly Stone. Had he got out to spin, he may have been pardoned for his failures. But throwing away his wicket in this fashion is inexcusable at the top level.
Nevertheless, Gill is a class player if there ever was one, and he can be trusted to register his first Test ton for India soon.
#1 Ajinkya Rahane
Barring a series-saving, match-winning, counter-attacking hundred in Melbourne after the Adelaide disaster, Ajinkya Rahane has been in dreadful form. The Indian Test vice-captain's struggles continued in this game, as he managed just 7 runs before being trapped in front by Jack Leach.
Rahane has shown a worrying tendency to hang on the backfoot while facing the spinners - a far from reliable strategy in the subcontinent. His technique against spin has come under major scrutiny in the recent past, and his reluctance to dance down the track has brought about his downfall on more than one occasion.
Rahane needs a solid outing - preferably a hundred - in the immediate future to silence his critics.