Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane flop show continues, memes galore, PURANE trends on Twitter

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Cheteshwar Pujara's last 20 Test innings: 15, 21, 7, 0, 17, 8, 15, 4, 12*, 9, 45, 1, 91, 4, 61, 26, 22, 0, 0, 16, 3, 53, 43, 9

Ajinkya Rahane's Last 20 Test Innings: 10, 7, 27, 49, 15, 5, 1, 61, 18, 10, 14, 0, 35, 4, 48, 20, 0, 58, 9, 1

New Delhi, Jan 13: After slamming composed half-centuries in the second innings of Johannesburg Test last week, senior India batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane once again disappointed as they failed to make an impression in the third and final Test against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town.

In the second innings of the third Test, Pujara was dismissed for a paltry 9 when he was caught at leg slip by Keegan Petersen in the first over on day three of the series decider. Pujara - who had survived a quality bowling spell in the final session on day two - failed to add any run to his overnight total as he was removed by young Marco Jansen in the very first over of the day's play.

He thus left Team India in the lurch as the visitors lost their third wicket in the second innings with just 57 runs on the board.

Matters soon turned worse for India when the new-man-in Ajinkya Rahane was caught behind off Kagiso Rabada in the very next over. Rahane had added just one run to his total before feathering the ball going away from him and getting ruled caught behind via DRS.

Rahane - who scored just 9 in the first innings - made his descent towards the pavilion soon after the giant screen on the pitch confirmed the ball actually brushed past his glove.

Rahane scored 48 off 130 in the first innings of the Centurion Test and managed only 20 off 33 in the second innings of that Test, which Team India went on to win.

In the second Test, Rahane had scores of 0 and 58 which the tourists ended up losing by 7 wickets. Although the right-handed batsman scored a composed half-century and forged a partnership of 111 runs with Pujara - who scored 53 - many believed that the Mumbaikar would have to follow it up with fine performances.

former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar criticised Rahane during the second Test and told ESPNCricinfo, "The team management is backing Rahane. India have won the first Test, and Rahane scored 48 runs in the first innings as well. So he might get another shot. But they should also think about (Hanuma) Vihari and Shreyas Iyer. The more chances Rahane gets, the fewer chances the other guys will have. So this needs to be discussed."

"Pujara and Kohli's form is understandable and they will get opportunities. But Rahane's poor form has been going on for some time now. So there'll be pressure on Rahane to keep his place in the side," he added.

Soon after Pujara and Rahane departed early on day three in Cape Town, #PURANE - a nickname for Pujara and Rahane - started trending on Twitter.