New Delhi, India

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan lauded India for being aggressive and having the self-belief to level the five-match Test series, versus England, in the second Test in Visakhapatnam. Rohit Sharma-led India, who entered the second Test without the likes of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, were trailing 0-1 after the loss in Hyderabad. However, they rode on Jasprit Bumrah's nine-wicket match haul, Yashasvi Jaiswal's 209 and Shubman Gill's 104 to win by 106 runs on Day 4 on Monday (Feb 5).

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'Batting is something that they will be talking about'

After the Test match, Zaheer lauded Rohit & Co. for having the belief to level the series but also cautioned them going ahead, highlighting their areas of concern. Speaking to JioCinema, Zak said, "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. 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."

Also read: India haven’t gotten rid of Bazball: Former Indian stumper cautions Rohit Sharma & Co. despite Vizag win

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He further opined, "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."

Zak added, "On the bowling front as well, you had the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah. On this kind of surface, you feel that your spinners were at times under pressure, and because of that they needed the help from the batters. So, to control all these factors - this is where the captain needs to come into play, and Rohit has been superb when it comes to all these factors and situations."

The third Test will kick off on Feb 15 in Rajkot with the series interestingly poised at 1-1. India expect the return of Kohli and Rahul for the remainder of the series whereas Jadeja and Mohammed Shami are likely to miss the entire series due to injury concerns. India's squad for the final three Tests is expected to be out soon.