India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Saturday said that Rohit Sharma told him how important it was to be positive on the Chepauk wicket which is being used for the ongoing second Test against England.
Three Indian wickets in the final hour of play tipped the opening day of the second Test slightly in favour of England after Rohit Sharma's sensational knock had set the India innings up on Saturday. The hosts lost Rohit (161), Ajinkya Rahane (67), and Ravichandran Ashwin (15) in the final hour of the play as the hosts lost three wickets in the third session after holding the fort before tea.
"We knew that it was going to turn from day one, obviously good to win the toss. The partnerships were vital - Rohit and Pujara got one, so did Rohit and myself. Rohit said it was important to be positive on this wicket. What happened in the first Test was past, I wanted to be positive, back myself on this wicket. The key was to use good footwork. We had the strategy (on the sweep), we did discuss the game plan on this, and wanted to make them bowl to our strengths, good that the plans came off," Rahane told host broadcaster Star Sports after stumps on day one.
"I thought the first 20-30 balls were important. Then you get an idea of the pace and the bounce, you're never in on this wicket, so it was important to be positive. Another 50-60 runs from here will be good, Rishabh is still there, another partnership or two will be good. It was difficult when they were bowling quicker through the pace, varying the pace is crucial on this surface," he added.
Rahane and Rohit formed a partnership of 162 runs on day one and this stand helped the hosts gain an upper hand in the match.
At stumps, India's score reads 300/6 with Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel unbeaten at 33 and five runs respectively. For England, Leach and Moeen Ali picked two while Olly Stone and skipper Joe Root scalped a wicket each.
Skipper Kohli had won the toss and he opted to bat first. The hosts made three changes to their lineup as they brought in Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj in place of Shahbaz Nadeem, Washington Sundar, and Jasprit Bumrah.
On the other hand, England made four changes as the side brought in Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Olly Stone, and Ben Foakes in place of Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, James Anderson, and Jos Buttler.
( With inputs from ANI )
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