England vs India 2018: VVS Laxman Suggests India to Trust Their Abilities

England’s dominance under rainy clouds has wholly overshadowed all the fire and fight shown by India at Edgbaston. There magical performance from the bowling department completely changed the scheme of things for India. Meanwhile, veteran VVS Laxman wants India to back their skills.

The stylish former Indian cricketer Laxman suggested India should trust their skills to come good against England. He felt that the lack of belief in oneself played a negative role thus witnessing India’s setback at Lord’s.

Once you start doubting your abilities, there is no way back: VVS Laxman

The very special batsman reiterated that India gave the spirited performance in Edgbaston. But, the drastic change in approach to Lord’s Test is annoying the former Hyderabad cricketer.

Laxman added that Indian team should not start doubting their skills which would kill the players’ ability. He feels that each player should ask themselves the tough questions and answer it with utmost honesty.

“After excellent commitment at Edgbaston, the lack of fight (at Lord’s) was galling. England did have the better of the conditions, but they also made the most of the assistance they received, while India caved in meekly, especially, when it came to batting. As much as the technical inadequacies, what stood out was a lack of belief. It manifested itself in tentativeness,” Laxman wrote in his column for ToI.

“Once you start doubting your abilities, there is no way back. Every member must look at himself, ask tough questions and find honest answers. India has the wherewithal from a cricketing perspective to fight back from 2-0 down, but for that, they must first sort out the issues in their minds, which clearly are several,” the former Test specialist added.

VVS Laxman lashes out at team’s selection:

The prominent face of Indian cricket Laxman spoke over the teams’ choices. With the rain around and having an extra-day for making a change in the playing XI, India still went with chinaman Kuldeep Yadav ahead of speedster Umesh Yadav.

He added that the conditions are purely asking the fast bowler to do the job, but Indian management went with Kuldeep which turned out to be a disaster.

“One should be flexible in team selection. At the toss on the second morning, with clouds gathering and everything crying out for a third specialist paceman, India left out Umesh Yadav and brought in Kuldeep Yadav,” he added.

“As well as Hardik Pandya bowled, India were unable to maintain relentless pressure when England were 131/5, which helped Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes to stage a wonderful rescue act,” VVS Laxman inferred.