 "Ravindra Jadeja lacked 'tactical awareness' at Headingley, says Sanjay Manjrekar while backing Kuldeep Yadav")
Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned Ravindra Jadeja’s performance in the first Test against England, which India lost by five wickets despite setting a target of 371. However, Manjrekar doesn’t want India to drop Jadeja; rather, he wants him to play along with Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
Jadeja took just one wicket in two innings, giving away 172 runs in 47 overs and also failed to maximise the rough patches around the stumps on the final day of the match as England scored 353 runs on just Day 5.
Manjrekar: ‘I am going to be critical of Ravindra Jadeja’
Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Match Centre Live’ after England took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, Manjrekar refused to blame the pacers, but said that Jadeja lacked tactical awareness in the Headingley Test at Leeds.
“It’s not fair to be overly critical of younger players like Prasidh Krishna — there are obvious areas for improvement. But I am going to be critical of Ravindra Jadeja. This was a final-day pitch with rough patches for him to exploit. And while there were a couple of chances, we have to expect more from someone of his experience. These weren’t typical English conditions where the pitch offers nothing. I felt he didn’t use the rough nearly enough — especially against Ben Duckett.
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“Against Ben Stokes, yes, he did make an effort. But it was only much later in Duckett’s innings that Jadeja started using the rough properly. When you’re dealing with experienced bowlers and seasoned batters, you expect a higher level of tactical awareness. Somewhere, I felt Jadeja was disappointing. The seamers had no help from the surface — but Jadeja at least had something in the pitch working in his favour.”
‘Kuldeep Yadav has to come back’
Manjrekar also asked India to make immediate changes to their combination for the next Test in England. He felt Kuldeep Yadav needs to be back in any case and Shardul Thakur must be dropped.
“I think Kuldeep Yadav has to come back. I’m sorry to say, but Shardul Thakur has to go out. That is one change India will have to make,” he said. “As for Nitish Kumar Reddy — I backed him for the first Test purely based on what he did in Australia. It’s an unpopular choice, because when he comes in, the balance does get affected a bit. He won’t quite bowl like a fourth seamer, so India needs to take a hard call: even in English conditions, they must go with quality bowlers. If that means playing two spinners, so be it. Pick your best bowlers, irrespective of the conditions.
Impact Shorts
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“You don’t have the luxury of someone like Mohammed Shami available, or the full-strength pace battery, so I’d go one seamer short and bring Kuldeep Yadav into the XI. He has to play. Let’s also acknowledge that English summers these days are largely dry — thanks to global warming, perhaps — and that does open the door for spin. In a way, it’s time to reintroduce the idea of India playing spin in England.
“Ben Stokes has already changed the narrative with common-sense, aggressive cricket. India needs to embrace the same clarity. There was a time when India would play three spinners no matter what — whether in New Zealand or England. If Kuldeep is in your squad, play him. Don’t go with seamers just because you’re playing in England. I’d drop one seamer and bring in Kuldeep Yadav.”
Catch the second Test of India’s tour of England, starting 2nd July at 3:30 PM, live on JioHotstar
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