Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara having troubles and finding it difficult to score against Australia pacer Pat Cummins is an area of concern for India in the ongoing Test series, believes former speedster Zaheer Khan.

Pujara, who scored 521 runs at an average of 74.42 on India’s previous tour of Australia in 2018, has been kept silent by the Aussies. He has been dismissed three out of four times by Cummins in the first two Tests of this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The batsman is yet to score a half-century.

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“There is no doubt that it is a topic of concern. But it is similar to the way we were talking about Steve Smith, that he will get the feel, he said he found his grip in the one-dayers,” said Zaheer on Sony Sports Network.

“He has to figure out that thing because it was the same attack against whom he had scored three centuries in the last series. Yes, the angle of Cummins’s deliveries are troubling him and somewhere or the other I feel this is form-related.”

Zaheer said that Pujara may have to reconsider his trigger movement and could be helped by revisiting the 2018/19 tour.

“It could be the trigger movement; he might have to go back down memory lane and think about it. He just has to get that feel,” he said.

“Yes, if Pat Cummins had not played in the previous series and not exploited his weakness like this, then it would have been a different thing but he has played him in the last series and scored centuries when he was there.”

Commentators have often observed that Pujara has been felled by extremely good deliveries from Cummins, who is the top ranked Test bowler in the world. Zaheer feels that it is only a matter of time before the India’s Test batting stalwart comes good.

“I think it is a matter of time. We should see it from that viewpoint but at this moment, you can say that it has become a slight area of concern,” he said.

Meanwhile, India on Tuesday defeated Australia by eight wickets in the Boxing-Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Cricket Ground to level the four-match series 1-1.

Set a target of 70 after Australia were dismissed for 200 in their second innings on Tuesday, the Indians got to the target for the loss of opener Mayank Agarwal (5) and No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara (3).

Shubman Gill, who hit seven fours in a delightful innings, was unbeaten on 35 and skipper Ajinkya Rahane on 27.

Rahane, who scored a gritty hundred in the first innings to lead India’s comeback at the Down Under, said going in with five bowlers worked well.

With IANS inputs