Cheteshwar Pujara confident of big Ajinkya Rahane show in Kanpur

India’s Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane train at the MCA-BKC ground recently. Pic/Suresh Karkera

India's stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane led the country successfully by defeating Australia in the Brisbane Test to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 earlier this year.

However, on the England tour, he managed only 109 in four Tests against the hosts three months ago. But Cheteshwar Pujara, who is Rahane's deputy for tomorrow's Kanpur Test against New Zealand, is confident that the Mumbai batsman will be back in form.

"Rahane is a great player. There are times when a player goes through tough times and that's part of the game. There will be ups and downs, but he is a confident player.

"He is just one innings away from getting the rhythm back. He will get good runs in the series," said Pujara during a virtual press conference from Kanpur on Tuesday. Rahane, 33, recently led Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, scoring 286 from five games.

The middle-order batsman, who has scored 4,756 runs from 78 Tests, had red-ball practice with Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Ishant Sharma, Prasidh Krishna and Umesh Yadav at Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra-Kurla Complex ground during a short camp last week.

"Once he [Rahane] gets a big hundred, he will be back in form. He has been working hard in the nets and I have been seen the way he batted. He is in good touch," Pujara remarked.

Pujara, 33, who has scored 6,494 runs in 90 Tests, is not worried about the added responsibility of vice-captaincy and the lack of match practice. The Saurashtra batsman last played against England at the Oval in September.

"Added responsibility can work in your favour as you can share your experiences with youngsters. Even when I am not vice-captain, I try to share my experiences as much as I can and the ultimate focus is on the Indian team.

"Yes, I am playing a match after three months, but I was part of an IPL team [Chennai Super Kings]. I went to practice with CSK and trained with them regularly. I am still in touch with the game. It's not that there has been no preparation. We also had a five-day camp in Mumbai, so that preparation will also help," Pujara explained.

When asked about former India skipper Rahul Dravid's presence as the team's new head coach, Pujara said: "Dravid coming in as coach will help most of the young players as well as seniors like me."