Kanpur Test: VVS Laxman questions Ajinkya Rahane’s shot selection after India captain’s dismissal on Day 1

Former India batter VVS Laxman questioned Ajinkya Rahane’s shot selection after the India captain got out for 35, failing to make good use of a start on Day 1 of the first Test between India and New Zealand at Green Park in Kanpur. Rahane got out trying to play a cut shot against Kyle Jamieson only to drag one onto the stumps in the second session after he won the toss and opted to bat.

Ajinkya Rahane looked solid in the middle as he was leading India’s recovery after the hosts lost well-set Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara in the post-lunch session. Just after getting away with a close call for a delivery that was bowled down the leg, the stand-in captain tried to cut a delivery that was bowled just outside the off-stump. He managed to drag it onto the stumps.

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Rahane looked distraught as he walked back to the hut, failing to score big yet again. Rahane’s form has been under the scanner and he has been struggling to make it big even at home. Since the start of 2016, Rahane has managed just 1019 runs in 35 innings at an average of just over 30.

‘YOU CAN’T PLAY WITH AN ANGLED BAT IN KANPUR’

Speaking to Star Sports, Laxman said Rahane could have gotten away with the angled-batted shot in overseas conditions but not in Kanpur.

“The moment AJinkya Rahane came into the crease, what did Kyle Jamieson do? He goes to short-pitch deliveries. We know Rahane has only one option against short-pitched deliveries, which is to play the pull shot. It was an instinctive shot that led to his dismissal. It’s okay to play besides the line in places like South Africa and Australia even if there is not much width, because of the bounce, you can hit through the square of the wicket.

“In Kanpur, you can’t play the ball where there is no bounce at all. You have to play with the full face of the bat, maybe a vertical bat. You can’t play with an angled bat,” Laxman said.

Meanwhile, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull said Rahane invited trouble by not going with a fully cross-battd shot against Jamieson after Lunch.

“If you are playing with a 45 degree angled bat, you are asking for trouble when there is invariable bounce. One will bounce and catch the top edge of your bat and one will not and maybe catch the under-edge.

“These sort of pitches, you see the chop-on quite often. We have seen 2 already today. One was a good delivery to Shubman Gill. But the one that got Rahane was not a great delivery and a fairly average shot when he looks back at it,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rahane had brushed aside concerns over his form on the eve of the Test match but pressure is mounting on the senior batter who is failing more often than not in the longest format of the game.