Vikram Rathour comes out in support of underfire duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane

Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour has come out in support of out-of-form batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. The duo once again failed to score big in the first Test match against South Africa. Pujara scored zero and 16 across both innings, while Rahane fared marginally better as he scored 48 and 20. Both the batters have had a dismal year with the bat, averaging below 30 in Tests.

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However, Rathour believes Rahane and Pujara are trying their best to come out of the lean patch "As far as Pujara and Rahane are concerned, they are trying their best, they are giving their best. Rahane was in really good touch but unfortunately, he got out, so has Pujara," said Rathour in the press conference after the end of Day four's play.

The batting coach further opined that Pujara has played vital knocks for India in the past thus the fans need to be a bit more patient with him. "Pujara in past has played some important innings for us, you see these are challenging conditions, not many people have scored runs here. We need to be patient as long as they are trying their best, giving their best as coaching unit we are fine. Are we getting impatient? Not at this stage, I think," he added.

Meanwhile, India are in a commanding position at Lunch on Day 5. They have reduced South Africa to 182-7 and need just three more wickets to go 1-0 up in the series.