Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped from the Indian Test team after the World Test Championship final earlier this year after going through a poor run of form.

Pujara was under so much scrutiny, having not contributed with impactful performances for a while in the longest format.

However, the effects of the absence of Pujara and Ajinkya Rahana in the Indian middle order have been witnessed a few times since their omission from the Test side.

One of those moments came in the recent Test match against South Africa which India lost by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion.

 

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A day after Ajinky Rahane posted a video on social media after India's defeat, Pujara also made his presence with a similar video while practicing where he is getting ready for the Ranji Trophy Tournament.

While Pujara scored 14 and 24 runs in his final outing for the Indian team, Rahane scored just 3 and 8 in his comeback series in West Indies before the duo was dropped for the South Africa tour.

Indian batting lineup registered a massive failure in the first Test against South Africa, scoring 245 runs in the first innings that too on the back of individual brilliance of KL Rahul.

Rahul, who made his return to the Test side, smashed a fighting century to keep the team alive in the contest.

However, it was just a matter of time before the visitors put up yet another horrible performance with the bat as they were bowled out for just 131 runs in the second innings.

Virat Kohli was the lone fighter and ended up scoring 76 runs. Apart from Virat and Shubman Gill, no other batter even touched the double figures in the second innings as the hosts wrapped up the game inside three days.

After Rahane and Pujara were dropped, the team witnessed the emergence of the likes of Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer in the Test side.

While the Indian team aimed for a smooth transition of the middle order in the Test format, the new faces registered massive failures on the all-important tour.

With the defeat, the Indian team's dream of their maiden Test series win on South African soil was shattered as a win in the second match will only level the two-match series.

It will now be interesting to see if Rahane and Pujara will get picked for the five-match Test series against England at home.

 

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Talking about Pujara, he didn't have a good outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring 121 runs in five innings including one fifty.

The second Test between India and South Africa will begin on Wednesday, January 3 at the Newlands in Cape Town whereas the Test series against England is scheduled to commence on January 25 in Hyderabad.