'He should be sacked' - Twitterati react as Cheteshwar Pujara bags duck during second Test against New Zealand

Cheteshwar Pujara’s poor run in Test matches continued as he bagged a duck in the ongoing second Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India got off to a brilliant start while batting first with openers Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill adding 80 runs for the first wicket. The latter’s dismissal brought Pujara in the middle and the veteran player was expected to capitalize on the start.

However, the 33-year-old couldn’t even open his account and fell prey to Ajaz Patel for a five-ball duck. It was indeed a terrific delivery from the left-arm spinner as the ball dipped and spun away. However, Pujara, who looked desperate to get off the mark, danced down the track to flick across the line. As he missed the ball completely, the red cherry went onto hit the off-stump.

While Pujara looked in disbelief, New Zealand team was ecstatic after getting two wickets in quick successions. Hailed as India’s ‘modern-day wall,’ the right-handed batter still boasts off a terrific record in the purest format of the game. However, he doesn’t have much to show in the last couple of years. Pujara’s last Test ton was recorded against Australia back in January 2019.

Cheteshwar Pujara averages 27.90 in Tests since January 2019

In 24 Test matches since then, the talismanic averages just 27.90. While Pujara has played some impressive knocks every now and then, consistency has been an issue for him. In fact, there were question marks regarding his place in the playing XI for the ongoing match.

With skipper Virat Kohli coming back for this fixture, one batter from the middle-order had to make way for him. As Ajinkya Rahane sustained a hamstring injury, Pujara continued in the side. However, his recent performances don’t guarantee him a spot in India’s line-up for the upcoming fxtures.

Meanwhile, the two-match series currently stands 0-0 with the first match at the Green Park in Kanpur resulting in a draw. Hence, the Mumbai Test would decide the fate of the series. The Kiwis suffered a major blow ahead of the clash with their regular skipper Kane Williamson getting ruled out due to elbow issues. Tom Latham took over the leadership role in his absence. For India, Kohli, Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Siraj came in for Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Ishant Sharma.

Meanwhile, let’s look at how Twitterati reacted to Cheteshwar Pujara’s yet another failure: 

https://twitter.com/Atinder32707964/status/1466692133138489348?s=20