Team India batters had a tough outing in the first innings of this ongoing fourth Test match at Kennington Oval as the tourists got bowled out for 191 runs on the board thanks to a fantastic 57(36) from Shardul Thakur, which rescued them from 127/7.
While the Indian top-order failed to get going apart from skipper Virat Kohli who looked good for his 50(96), the team management sent all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to bat at no.5 ahead of India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane.
As fans and pundits tried to decode this move, the former India batsman VVS Laxman in his latest interaction with ESPNCricinfo provided his take on this decision.
“Left-right combination would be the thinking behind sending Jadeja at No.5. There was a lot of help for the four England pacers in the air and off the wicket. When there is a left-right combination, you can break the rhythm of the opposition,” Laxman told ESPNCricinfo.
“Jadeja is batting really well of late and has three triple hundreds in first-class cricket. This was not on the spot decision, this would have been planned in the team meeting,” he added.
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The right-hand batsman then lauded Shardul Thakur for his heroics with the bat as he scored a brilliant fifty and also overtook former England all-rounder Sir Ian Botham for scoring the fastest fifty in Test cricket on English soil.
“When you are a top-order batsman, there is a fear of failure. But when you bat at No.8 with the tailenders, you can play fearlessly. Thakur deserves praise for the way he batted. He scored an important half-century, not only for Shardul Thakur but also for Team India because they could have got bowled out inside 150,” the Hyderabad-based cricketer said.
“It was an important innings just the way he played in Brisbane and brought the momentum in India's favor. I will hope that he contributes with wickets too,” the former cricketer concluded.
The tourists ended day one on a high by picking up three English wickets which included openers Burns (5) and Hameed (0) along with the big scalp of England skipper Joe Root (21).
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
