Zaheer Khan, the former Indian fast bowler, has pointed out the weaknesses in the host team’s batting during the ongoing series against England. He emphasized that it was primarily due to the exceptional performances of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill that India managed to secure victory in the second Test. However, he noted that the rest of the Indian batters failed to perform collectively. The victory was largely attributed to Jaiswal’s impressive innings of 209 runs and Shubman’s contribution of 104 runs in the second innings, complemented by Jasprit Bumrah’s outstanding bowling efforts.
In a conversation on ‘Match Centre Live’, at the end of the 2nd Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Monday, JioCinema cricket expert Zaheer Khan, analysed Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. (Watch: Rohit Sharma Loses Cool Over Fielders, Stump Mic Records Him Yelling: ‘Chilla Chilla Ke Gala…’)
“If you are one down in the series, you need that aggression, fight and belief to make sure that it is 1-1 after the end of the game. And I think Rohit was able to bring out those individual performances from the players. There are a few concerns when you look at the team – batting is something that they will be talking about because under these conditions, on this sort of a surface, we have seen India do better. You look at England’s second innings, there is only one half-century and they still managed to get close to 300. That is what collective effort can do. We have seen two brilliant innings – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, but with the bat, there is a lot of work to be done,” said Zaheer.
“On the bowling front as well, you had the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah. On this kind of surface, you feel that your spinners were at times under pressure, and because of that they needed the help from the batters. So, to control all these factors – this is where the captain needs to come into play, and Rohit has been superb when it comes to all these factors and situations.” (Will Virat Kohli Be Back For 3rd Test? Rohit Sharma, Ajit Agarkar Involved In Intense Discussion After IND vs ENG 2nd Test As Kevin Pietersen Deciphers Chat; Watch)
Owais Shah, former England cricketer and JioCinema cricket Expert, felt England hurried into their shot-making.
“When Ollie Pope came in, it seemed like he was looking to score off every delivery. It was a similar case for Joe Root, and eventually both lost their wickets. There was a lot of expectation from Pope, who had played a brilliant innings in the last match and Root is a class player whose numbers speak for themselves. Had both of them stitched a good partnership together, they had the chance to chase this mammoth target. Then, even in the Ben Stokes run-out, he seemed a little relaxed. So, if you lose three big wickets like this, then chasing a target like this becomes almost impossible.”
