India vs England: VVS Laxman Questions Rohit Sharma And Ajinkya Rahane's Commitment

The Virat Kohli-led Indian team lost the first India vs England Test match by a convincing margin of 227 runs. It will be very much right to say that after a stunning performance in difficult conditions in Australia, the hosts were outclassed by the opposition in all the three departments. The visiting England team came on this tour after winning a brilliant two-match Test series in Sri Lanka which is the reason why most of the English batters looked very much comfortable countering the Indian spinner in the first innings especially the trio of skipper Joe Root, Dominic Sibley and Ben Stokes.

Although, the two England spinners, Jack Leach and Dominic Bess didn’t looked that much threatening in their first Test in India, but the duo bowled very well in patches and that should have given them enough confidence to do well in the rest of the series. After conceding 578 runs in the first innings, it was the Indian top-order batters who struggled against the England spinners and pacers in the Chennai Test.

VVS Laxman not impressed with Rohit and Rahane’s commitment

Former India’s batting maestro VVS Laxman has questioned the commitment of India’s senior batting pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma after their poor performance in both the innings of the first Test against England. Rohit came into this series against England after getting some great starts in the two Test matches which he played in Australia, but the Indian opener failed to leave a mark in this game as he was dismissed by speedster Jofra Archer in the first innings while was found wanting against Leach in the second innings. The right-hander scored just 6 in the first innings and got dismissed on 12 in the last innings of the Test match.

“I want to see commitment from Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in the next match, that they should win or save the match,” said VVS Laxman on Star Sports.

“Rohit Sharma will be disappointed the way he got in the first innings. As a batsman you know where the bowlers are going to attack you, what is not your strength. We know Rohit Sharma has to play a little more carefully outside off-stump at the start of his innings,” Laxman added.

IND vs ENG: Laxman feels Rahane was not ready for the fight

England’s veteran fast bowler James Anderson bowled a sensational spell of reverse swing bowling to account for the wickets of Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane in a single over on Day 5. The ball was clearly reversing and both the dismissals looked pretty similar, however, Laxman feels that Rahane being a senior batsman should have been more prepared to counter the England bowlers. Rahane failed to contribute much with the bat in both the innings as he scored just 1 in the first innings while returned with a 3-ball duck in the other.

“The way Ajinkya Rahane got out in the second innings, I didn’t feel he was ready for the fight. It was known that Anderson will be reversing the ball; you can get out to a good ball, but if your footwork is not correct, and you don’t come into the right position, that too at the start of the innings, it makes you feel sad. So the way Ajinkya Rahane got out, he will be disappointed,” stated the former Indian batsman.

England have taken a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series, but surely this Indian team is expected to come back fighting in the second Test match scheduled to start from February 13 in Chennai.

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