Rahane rediscovers touch after adjustments to batting technique

The first Test, at Edgbaston, could have ended very differently for India had even one other top-order batsman scored runs of any significance. As it was, Kohli scored 200 runs over two innings as India hit 274 and 162. England won by 31 runs. The second Test at Lord’s was one-sided, as even Kohli faltered, and India went down by an innings and 159 runs.

There had to be a change, and it was on show on Saturday, 18 August, as Rahane scored 81 to Kohli’s 97 and the two added 159 for the fourth wicket.

“Certain adjustments were made by some of the batsmen. They were playing a lot later, lot of batsmen used some shots square of the wicket and overall I think the discipline was far, far better,” said Sanjay Bangar, India’s Assistant Coach, after the day’s play.

“Even at Lord's, he (Rahane) was batting well, looking solid, till the time he chased a widish delivery. He is a quality player, we all know that. Ravi (Shastri, the Head Coach) coming out and saying that he is our pillar, he is still a pillar of Indian batting, that might have done a whole lot of good for his confidence.

“And, yes, certain adjustments even he made, which probably he can tell you better. He looked in terrific touch, the partnership he had with Virat, they played with intent. His mindset was very clear he was very positive, his feet were moving well. He was getting into good positions. At times there can be a lapse in concentration, which can lead to losing your wicket, which had happened in the previous Test. But he seemed to be in good nick and he capitalised, put us in a good position and he would be hurting because a big score was on the cards.”

Before Kohli and Rahane got together, India had a decent first-wicket stand between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul. Dhawan, dropped after the first Test but brought back in place of Murali Vijay, scored 35, as he and Rahul (23) put together 60 runs.

“The most important thing was the opening partnership was according to our expectation. In the previous two Tests, we were losing two or three wickets inside the first 15 overs. Because of that the middle order was walking in early in difficult conditions. It was not just the start but also the way they were batting was good,” pointed out Bangar.

“The way Shikhar made the changes to his batting, the way he reduced his bat speed, the way he played the ball later, these adjustments he made in the last six or seven days, he should get credit. KL Rahul, too, was playing on the back foot, he was reacting after the ball's movement.

“These changes the batsmen have made make me hopeful for the rest of the series. With five more innings left, if our batsmen can play in the same way, their performance graph will carry on to improve.”

India ended the day on a strong 307/6, with debutant Rishabh Pant, who got off the mark with a six off Adil Rashid, in the middle.