Ajinkya Rahane should have been Man-of-the-Match at Lord's: Graeme Swann
There were a number of brilliant performers for India in their victory in the 2nd Test against England, at Lord’s, but Rahane’s hundred on the 1st day of the Test on a green wicket was what tilted the match in India’s favour, according to recently retired England off-spinner Graeme Swann.
"Ajinkya Rahane was without a doubt the stand-out Indian player in the second Test," Swann said. "There is no way he could have ever batted on a wicket like this. He would have turned up on the first morning, and thought to himself 'How do you bat on a pitch like this?' And then he went on to get that beautiful hundred. That first innings was the difference in this Test.
"The way he batted, he made England come up with the most ludicrous tactic I could imagine. That's not about the bowlers or the captain, that is purely down to the batsman. For me, Rahane should have been the Man of the Match, no doubt."
Rahane’s 100 in the 1st innings helped India post 295; they were 145/7 at one stage. Swann rued the failure of England’s bowlers to bowl India out for a total of less than 200 on the 1st day of the Test.
Senior players’ form a cause for concern
"England wasted too many opportunities on the first day. They should have bowled India out for under-200 from 140-odd for seven, but they allowed them to get 295. James Anderson and Stuart Broad should be very disappointed with the way they bowled on the first day because it was a wicket more suited to them. And that is the problem for England," the 35-year old said.
Swann, who played alongside a lot of the current senior England players, is worried about the lack of form of his ex-colleagues and feels that they need to start performing quickly if England are to start winning once again.
"The senior players just aren't firing," he said. "Alastair Cook isn't in form, Ian Bell isn't scoring runs. Jimmy and Broad have been in poor form as well. Sometimes the whole team gets hidden behind one player who is doing very well. It was Bell who did that for us the last year. Right now we have no one to cover for the other batsmen.
"We haven't even got that one bowler to cover for the whole of bowling attack either."
Cook needs to take some time-off
Swann has seen many of Alastair Cook’s 25 Test hundreds from close quarters. So, the England opener’s recent struggles with the bat have come as a surprise to him. When asked what Cook could do to turnaround his poor form, Swann suggested that his former national captain should take a few days off to relax instead of practising intensely, as it could do the trick.
"He has done everything right," Swann said. "He's gone over his routine, hit a 1000 balls in the nets and even got a start in the second innings. But nothing has worked for him. So personally I would like to see him do something unnatural, go against his game.
"Go have a couple of beers, eat some junk food, calm down and take some pressure off, and then smash the bowling when you bat. Just throw caution to the wind.
"But I know he won't do that. So I don't really know the solution to this problem."