Sanjay Manjrekar feels that preparing a turning pitch for the second Test between India and New Zealand has backfired for the host nation. Sanjay Manjrekar suggests that it has been more challenging for the Indian batters to score runs than for the rival players. India lost the match by 113 runs and their fortress of 12 years finally has been breached as India last had lost Test series in their backyard in 2012 by England by 2-1.
Former India National Cricket Team player Sanjay Manjrekar has jumped in the defence of the Indian batters following their flop show in the first innings of the ongoing Test match against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. Indian batters delivered an awful performance in the first innings of the second Test match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune and got bowled out for 156 in 45.3 overs.
India’s dismal performance in 1st innings at Pune test
India’s innings started on a disappointing note as captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a duck on the first day itself. On the second day, Shubman Gill and Yashaswi Jaiswal failed to play big innings and got dismissed after scoring 30 runs each.
The middle-order batters also kept struggling against the New Zealand bowlers as Virat Kohli (1), Rishabh Pant (18) and Sarfaraz Khan (11) got out without scoring big runs. However, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (38) and Washington Sundar (18) chipped in with crucial runs that helped the hosts post a respectable total on the board.
After a poor show, the Indian batters faced heavy criticism, with many experts slamming their poor defensive technique because of which they were not able to deal with the threat of spin-bowling.
However, Sanjay Manjrekar thinks differently. According to the cricketer-turned-commentator, it’s wrong to be ‘too critical’ of the modern-day batters’ defensive skills in Tests because they are mostly used to playing T20 cricket, where defense is of no use.
Sanjay Manjrekar questions the team India’s performance in the 2nd Test vs NZ
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar opined that preparing a turning track for the ongoing second Test between India and New Zealand in Pune backfired for Rohit Sharma and Co. He suggested that it did more damage to the hosts than to the Black Caps. Pointing out that the home series against New Zealand hasn’t panned as per Team India’s expectations, the cricketer-turned-commentator told ESPNCricinfo:
“You wonder now if India can’t win on rank turners, what next? So, it’s turned out to be a series like that which has been unexpected. I said acid test for New Zealand if the pitch is a turning one, turns out it more is a test for Indian batters than anything else.”
Emphasizing that India’s poor batting performance against New Zealand’s spin attack will worry the team management, Manjrekar added:
“It was a performance that will worry the team management because India should have risen to the occasion. Because you’re not talking of three experienced spinning stalwarts from the opposition.”
Sanjay Manjrekar slams Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in the series
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has been a force to reckon with on the Indian pitches. However, the talismanic all-rounder has failed to make a significant impact with the ball in the ongoing series. In the aforementioned source, Sanjay Manjrekar stated that Jadeja’s accuracy has been missing of late. Assessing the seasoned campaigner’s bowling performances, Manjrekar remarked:
“Jadeja has become a bit of a talking point. Jadeja has been great strength over the years, and at some stage, those performances have to dip because how long can you sustain those kinds of performances. Very noticeable is the fact that he’s not as accurate as he used to be where he used to just bowl on middle stump and a ball would come back in or leave the right-hander.”
“He was a nightmare, whether it was a left-hander or a right-hander. The accuracy is not quite there. I wonder whether average speed has changed and hence he’s not getting as much reaction from the pitch,”