"A very negative or defensive decision" - VVS Laxman on Joe Root opting to bowl first at Lord's 

Former India batsman VVS Laxman has termed Joe Root's decision to bowl first after winning the toss at Lord's as defensive. After his opposite number, Virat Kohli, lost his seventh consecutive toss, Root opted to field first in overcast conditions. Kohli also admitted that he would have preferred to bowl first.

We win the toss and will bowl first! Three changes to our side for the second Test 🏏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 12, 2021

England's bowlers were unable to deliver a breakthrough despite the ball moving a fair bit in the first hour of play. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul withstood a challenging opening barrage by James Anderson and Ollie Robinson from the famed Pavilion and Nursery End respectively.

However, Laxman firmly believes that Lord's is usually a good batting surface and bowling first should only be considered if the conditions are firmly in favor of it. While speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Laxman said:

"Having played in England and also at Lord's, until and unless the wicket is damp or the grass is really fresh, it's always going to be a good batting surface.

"I just feel keeping in mind the brittleness of the England top order, the overcast conditions and the quality of Indian fast bowlers probably must have forced Joe Root to take the decision. It is a very negative or a defensive decision, according to me."

Indian batsmen will have to convert their starts: VVS Laxman

Laxman also emphasized that the Indian batsmen will have to shoulder additional responsibility since they are playing with one batsman short. The injured Shardul Thakur was replaced by Ishant Sharma with Ravichandran Ashwin once again settling for a place on the bench.

In this regard, Laxman said:

"It's a great loss to lose for India. With no Ashwin, there's not much depth after Ravindra Jadeja. It becomes a bit more important for the batsmen to convert their starts into a big score or probably the three-figure mark which did not happen in Nottingham."

A 💯- run partnership for #TeamIndia openers at Lord's 👏👏Live - https://t.co/KGM2YELLde #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/BVKle9QyMt

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2021

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have delivered a fantastic start for the visitors having brought up their 100-run partnership for the opening wicket. Rohit Sharma successfully managed to switch gears after negotiating the tough phase of play while KL Rahul remains the anchor at the other end.