"The way Rohit Sharma started against England bowlers in those conditions is commendable" - Inzamam-ul-Haq 

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq praised Rohit Sharma for his display with the bat on Day 1 of the Lord's Test. Sharma struck a sublime 83, which also turned out to be his highest overseas score in the longest format of the game.

That's Stumps on Day 1 of the 2nd #ENGvIND Test at Lord's! A solid outing with the bat for #TeamIndia, courtesy 1⃣2⃣7⃣* from @klrahul11 8⃣3⃣ from @ImRo45 4⃣2⃣ from @imVkohli Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/KGM2YELLde pic.twitter.com/HpeU5SoWk5

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2021

India were put in to bat first by Joe Root and weathered some excellent bowling with the new ball from James Anderson and Ollie Robinson. However, England once again struggled to break the opening partnership. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul played with caution in the shortened first session before changing gears.

Inzamam-ul-Haq believes England had hoped for at least 3-4 early wickets due to the conditions on offer for the first two hours. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said:

"India had already signalled their intention with their performance in the first Test. Fast bowlers get a lot of help in England for the first two hours due to the moisture. They (England) hoped for 3-4 early wickets to put India under pressure."

Inzamam also spoke about how Rohit Sharma's approach to ward off England bowlers took a lot of pressure off, something which KL Rahul was able to take full advantage of later on. He praised the opening duo for keeping the momentum and not languishing behind as well. Inzamam added:

"The way Rohit Sharma started against England bowlers in those conditions is commendable. India got a terrific start through him which waved off all the pressure and KL Rahul took advantage of it."

"Rohit Sharma had a strike rate of 57, KL Rahul had a strike rate of 51, which means that they kept the pressure on the bowlers. The batsmen who score runs slowly and sluggishly, I don't see them scoring runs nor do I see any use of those runs."

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Rare to see players like KL Rahul who have more centuries away from home: Inzamam-ul-Haq

KL Rahul struck a historic ton at the Home Of Cricket and became only the third Indian batsman after Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid to score hundreds at Lord's and the Oval. He struck his first hundred on his maiden tour of Australia itself. His lone Test hundred at home coincidentally came against England during their tour of India in 2016.

Soon to be etched in Gold! 👏 ⌛️#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @klrahul11 https://t.co/NB5N81OjT1

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2021

Inzamam noted Rahul's rare instance where he had a significant number of away Test hundreds when compared to home tons.

"Very few batsmen have such a record where their initial 8-10 centuries are away from home. You might have seen plenty of players with away centuries, but usually they score their first set of hundreds at home, gain experience and then score away. However, KL Rahul's system is the opposite," Inzamam concluded.

India are well poised for a big first innings total in the second Test, having finished Day 1 on 276/3. KL Rahul remains unbeaten on 127, and is joined by Ajinkya Rahane (1*) at the other end.