India vs England: Cheteshwar Pujara’s woes between the wickets continue with Virat Kohli goof-up at Lord’s

India may be sweating over Cheteshwar Pujara’s lack of form with the bat, but the bigger issue seems to be the middle-order batsman’s running between the wickets. In the latest episode, Pujara was involved in a mix-up with skipper Virat Kohli on day two of the Lord’s Test against England, and astonishingly that takes his tally of getting dismissed via run-out to five times since January 2016 – the highest for any player during that period.

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The Saurastra batsman, known for his calm and composure while batting, seems to be all at sea when it comes to running between the wickets.

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Earlier in the year, Pujara had become the 25th batsman to be run-out in both innings of a Test match during the India-South Africa Test series. He was out for 0 and 19 at Centurion in the 2nd Test.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s run-outs in Tests

And trouble is, it is just not about him. Pujara has now been involved in seven of the last eight run-outs India have had in Tests.

In July 2016, Pujara found himself at the wrong end of a Roston Chase’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end to depart for 46 at Kingston. Back home, in the series against New Zealand Pujara sent back Murali Vijay, denying him a quick single but Martin Guptill’s throw had Vijay walking back.

Against Australia in Dharamsala in 2017, Pujara was out for a duck. At Colombo in August 2017, Pujara left KL Rahul stranded after taking off for a single. Then came the Centurion Test and now the Lord’s Test.

To be fair to him, in this Test match Virat Kohli had taken the start and it seemed it was the skipper’s call. Pujara committed completely after dropping the ball towards point. Ollie Pope, from gully, picked up and ran towards the empty striker’s end as Pujara and Kohli were running towards the non-striker’s end.

This is the seventh time Pujara has been run-out in 59 Test matches.