Ajinkya Rahane has to start performing consistently: Deep Dasgupta

Deep Dasgupta stated that Ajinkya Rahane has to start performing consistently for the team. Rahane's performance has come under the radar after his back to back failures in the first Test match against England.

Rahane was expected to perform the best in home conditions against England. However, the batsman failed horribly, scoring 1 and 0. In fact, Rahane has not scored a fifty in his last seven innings since his match-winning knock against Australia. After his splendid 112 in Melbourne, Ajinkya Rahane has managed scores of 27*, 22, 4, 37, 24, 1 & 0 in the last three Tests. But the Indian team management is expected to back their star player in the on-going home series.

Meanwhile, retired spinner Pragyan Ojha also highlighted that India failing to score in the first inning is the main reason for their defeat. India awarded one inning lead of 241 runs after managing only 337 runs in response to England's 578.

India lacked the intensity against England: Virat Kohli

Deep Dasgupta stated that Ajinkya Rahane has to raise his game. And there are no two ways about it. Dasgupta also agreed with Indian skipper Virat Kohli's observation that Team India lacked the intensity against England. He expects the Indian cricket team to bounce back in the second Test starting February 13 at the same venue.

India slipped down to the fourth position for the first time in the World Test Championship standings. The defeat against England puts the hosts in a very tricky situation regarding the World Test Championship. India will have to win two matches to play the WTC finals against New Zealand. The 227-run win has helped England to move top of the pack with 70.2%, while India has 68.3 points. There is a tough road ahead for England as they need to defeat India with a margin of 3-1 or 4-0 or even 3-0. If that happens, they will play the finals against the Kiwis.

READ MORE Cricket articles here!