Team India was criticized heavily for their disappointing performance on Day one of this third Test match against England at Headingley in Leeds. After electing to bat first, Indians were bowled out for 78 runs and England on the other hand had ended the first day with 120/0 with a lead of 42 runs.
The former India cricketer Aakash Chopra in his latest YouTube video talked about India’s performance at Leeds as only opening batsman Rohit Sharma (19) and India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (18) reached the double figures.
“They should have batted better. They keep on bowling away to Virat Kohli and once again Jimmy Anderson dismisses him. That's also a problem because he has got out four times in this series, all the four times in almost identical fashion,” Chopra said in his YouTube video.
ENG v IND 2021: Cannot take cricket for granted- Ramiz Raja slams India's performance on day
India opener KL Rahul who scored a superb century at Lord’s was dismissed for a duck this time around by a superb pitched up delivery by England’s veteran pacer James Anderson. The 43-year-old talked about Rahul’s dismissal as he believes the right-hander shouldn’t have played this shot against the first new ball.
“KL Rahul's shot was one he had not played in the entire series, against the second new ball, yes but definitely not against the first new ball. It was a pitched-up delivery, eyes widened and saw a four, threw his bat, got an outside edge and out,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said.
The former India batsman then talked about Cheteshwar Pujara who has been talked about a lot owing to the right-hander’s inability to score big runs of late.
“Pujara has not been batting well. Let's be honest, the way he is getting out, the feet are not moving and is going towards the ball with his hands. Pujara's specialty was that even if the feet were not moving, his hands were near the body but he is going away from the body and the pressure is going on increasing,” Chopra pointed out.
After a few quick wickets, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane tried to steady the ship as they were stitching a small partnership, but the duo was removed by a jaffa from English pacer Ollie Robinson and Rohit’s poor shot selection off Craig Overton respectively.
ENG v IND 2021: There are holes in this India batting lineup, it looks fragile, says Nasser Hussain
“Rahane and Rohit stitch together a little partnership but just at the stroke of lunch Rahane also gets out. Pant even steps out to play at the start but plays a far away delivery and he is also out.
Rohit Sharma was standing at one end, only 15 runs in the first session. He is not changing gears, he played a bad shot and once again was dismissed to a short ball. Once Rohit Sharma gets out, it was just a procession,” the former cricketer signed off.
India’s Mohammad Shami has finally managed to break England’s 135-run opening stand by dismissing southpaw Rory Burns for 61(153). Thus, it will be exciting to see whether Indian pacers make use of the new English batter Dawid Malan at the crease.
