VVS Laxman impressed with Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy and Team India's performance on Boxing Day
Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman heaped praise on stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and the entire Indian team's performance on day one of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Laxman was particularly happy that the visitors didn't let the ghosts of the Adelaide defeat haunt them at the MCG.
VVS Laxman took to Twitter to express his happiness after the brilliant performance of the visitors on day one. He tweeted:
"Excellent day's play for India. Bowlers were once again sensational, both the debutants looked confident, Rahane captained the side really well but most importantly they didn't carry the baggage of the loss from Adelaide."
Ajinkya Rahane marshaled his troops well in the second Test of the series
Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane had a job on his hands to make the Indian team believe in themselves after their horror show at the Adelaide Oval. He did this successfully and Team India came out all guns blazing despite losing a crucial toss.
Ajinkya Rahane was spot-on with his unorthodox field placements and bowling changes. The 32-year-old challenged the Australian batsmen to take on the Indian bowlers and induced false shots, which eventually led to wickets.
Jasprit Bumrah was the star of the show with figures of 4-56. Ravichandran Ashwin was among the wickets as well and he picked up figures of 3-35, including the prized scalp of Steve Smith for a duck.
Debutant Mohammed Siraj ensured the pressure remained on the Aussies as he picked up 2 wickets and helped the Indian team take control on day one of the second Test.
Ajinkya Rahane's ploy of placing the leg gully worked wonders as the likes of Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and skipper Tim Paine were victims of this tactic.
Team India had to bat out 11 overs towards the end of the day, something that was going to be difficult given the prowess of the Australian pace battery. The visitors lost Mayank Agarwal in the very first over. However, young Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara ensured there were no further hiccups and Team India ended the day at 36-1.
With the Indian team trailing by 159 runs, the likes of Gill, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will look to take a decent lead in the first innings when the second Test of the series resumes.