Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar criticized captain Rohit Sharma’s tactics during the ongoing third Test match against England. Sanjay Manjrekar described the late introduction of senior spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as a tactical error.
The Indian team posted a formidable total of 445 runs after opting to bat first in the Rajkot Test. Rohit Sharma smashed his 11th Test century, scoring 131 runs. Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja (112) rescued the team from a challenging situation at 33/3 in the first innings.
I didn’t understand that move – Sanjay Manjrekar
When asked about Ravichandran Ashwin’s late arrival, Sanjay Manjrekar expressed confusion over the captaincy choice. Manjrekar emphasized that Ashwin has the ability to counter England’s aggressive approach against the Indian spinners.
“I didn’t understand that movement. I thought it was a mistake. A tactical error. Ashwin bowled the first ball when the score was 72 and that is a lot. Among Indian spinners, including Axar Patel, I think Ashiwn is the only one who has started to find a way to counter this new English approach to playing spin. He would have been my first choice spinner. I couldn’t understand Kuldeep Yadav coming at that time. There was also quite a bit of pace in the bowling where you could see that the fast bowlers were not really creating any impression,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj started the new dance and Kuldeep Yadav came in as the first change. Ben Duckett reached his half-century off just 39 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin joined the attack in the 12th over, when England had scored 72/0.
Ashwin made an instant impact and dismissed Zak Crawley in his seventh delivery. The spinner broke England’s opening 89-run partnership. Following the dismissal, the 37-year-old also became the second Indian bowler to complete 500 wickets in Test cricket.
Rohit Sharma invested too much in pace – Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar warned Rohit Sharma about the threat England pose, suggesting an over-reliance on pace bowling could backfire. He urged Rohit to keep these factors in mind for future matches.
“These are the things Rohit Sharma needs to be careful about. He has to deal with this opposition, which is very dangerous and ruthless,” Manjrekar added.
“Ashwin, coming after 72 runs on the board, can come back to haunt him and maybe also Jadeja, who came in to bowl when there were 100 runs on the board. She invested too much in the rhythm. She has to be careful,” he concluded.
England finished Day 2 on 207/2 with the help of Ben Duckett’s magnificent century. However, they failed to maintain the momentum into the third day. They lost three wickets in the first session, including Duckett. They scored 290 for the loss of five wickets at the lunch break.
It is worth mentioning that Ravichandran Ashwin opted not to participate in the ongoing match due to personal reasons, as confirmed by the BCCI on Friday, February 16. The home team has no option to replace Ashwin in the match, as per ICC rules.
Also Read: “Kuldeep Yadav is a good spinner against Bazball” – Sanjay Manjrekar ahead of the third Test
