"Batting Is Something..." - Zaheer Khan Points Out India's Concerns Despite Vizag Test Win

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan has pointed out at Team India’s concerns despite the win in the second Test in Vizag. India won the second Test by 106 runs to level the series. 

England chasing 399 to win were bowled out for 292. Jasprit Bumrah took nine wickets in the match and was named as the Man of the match. Ravichandran Ashwin was stuck on 499 wickets as Mukesh Kumar took a wicket in the second innings. 

Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan talking to Jio Cinema said that India won the second test on the back of individual batting performances. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 209 in the first innings while Shubman Gill scored 104 in the second innings. Skipper Rohit Sharma scored 14 and 13 in the two innings. 

Also Read: Expected Youngsters To Push Hard On The Field – Rohit Sharma After Vizag Test Win

Lot Of Work To Be Done: Zaheer Khan

“There are a few concerns when you look at the team – batting is something that they will be talking about because under these conditions, on this sort of a surface, we have seen India do better,” Zaheer said on JioCinema.

“You look at England’s second innings, there is only one half-century and they still managed to get close to 300. That is what collective effort can do. We have seen two brilliant innings – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, but with the bat, there is a lot of work to be done,” Zaheer added further. 

India lost the first Test despite taking a 190-run lead in the second innings. The third Test starts from February 15 with question marks over the availability of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. KL Rahul is expected to make a comeback. Jasprit Bumrah may be rested in the third Test with Mohammed Siraj likely to replace him. 

“If you are one down in the series, you need that aggression, fight and belief to make sure that it is 1-1 after the end of the game. And I think Rohit was able to bring out those individual performances from the players,” said Zaheer as he lauded the Indian skipper for backing his players to win the second Test. 

The win has helped India rise to the number two spot in the WTC 2023-35 points table. India plays the third Test in Rajkot which is a good venue for batting The fourth Test will be played in Ranchi from February 23-27 followed by the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala from March 3-7. 

England, after the loss in the second Test, have moved to Abu Dhabi for a break. They assembled at the same place for practice ahead of the Test series. The visitors will assemble back in India in time for the third Test in Rajkot.

“Being 2-0 up would have been great for us, but that’s the great thing about a five-match series, it’s the end of the series where everything counts. “We’re a very level-headed team and that allows us to put things behind us, move on to the next thing and concentrate there,”  Stokes told reporters after the second Test loss.

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