India vs England: Ahead of 2nd Test, VVS Laxman want to see 'commitment' from 2 senior players

Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman has said he wants to see "commitment" from Mumbai duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma ahead of the second Test between India and England.

In the first Test, which India lost by 227 runs, Rohit managed scores of 6 and 12, while the Indian Test vice-captain Rahane returned with scores of 1 and 0. England put up 578 and 178 runs in the Chennai Test, while India were bowled out for 337 and 192.

"I want to see commitment from Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in the next match, that they should win or save the match," said Laxman on Star Sports.

After a successful tour of Australia, where the stand-in captain Rahane led India to a memorable 2-1 win in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Rahane has been facing the heat about being inconsistent as a batsman that has hurt the team on a number of occasions over the years. Following his match-winning score of 112 at the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in December, Rahane has struggled with the bat, scoring 27*, 22, 4, 37,24, 1, and 0 in his last seven innings.

Rahane is the third-most experienced batsman in the current Indian team after Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara and according to Laxman, the deputy failed to put up any fight, especially in the second innings in Chennai, where he was dismissed by James Anderson with a reverse-swinging delivery.

"The way Ajinkya Rahane got out in the second innings, I didn't feel he was ready for the fight. It was known that Anderson will be reversing the ball; you can get out to a good ball, but if your footwork is not correct, and you don't come into the right position, that too at the start of the innings, it makes you feel sad. So, the way Ajinkya Rahane got out, he will be disappointed.

Rohit Sharma will be disappointed with the way he got out in the first innings. As a batsman you know where the bowlers are going to attack you, what is not your strength. We know Rohit Sharma has to play a little more carefully outside off-stump at the start of his innings," added Laxman.

England are 1-0 up in the four-match Test series, which is a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2019-21. The result of the ongoing series between India and England will determine which of the three – Australia, England or India – will take on New Zealand in the WTC final at Lord's in June.

The second Test between India and England is scheduled to begin on Saturday in Chennai.