Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar questioned skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to take the second new ball on the opening day of the fourth Test match against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Rohit decided to take the second new ball in the 82nd over of the day but the move backfired as the new cherry came nicely onto the bat of Cameron Green and Usman Khawaja. The pair scored 54 runs in the last nine overs of the day’s play, with Green doing the bulk of the scoring.
Australia was able to finish at 255-4 and they were able to take the momentum in the last hour’s play. Green scored an unbeaten knock of 49 runs off just 64 balls as he took on the attack against the Indian bowlers.
In fact, the first over with the second new ball was bowled by Umesh Yadav and it was taken for 12 runs by Green and it changed the momentum as the Indian bowlers had kept Australia under check till then. Furthermore, Mohammad Shami conceded 11 runs in the 85th over he bowled.
“This is where it’s interesting. When you watch cricket in the 80s and 90s, when the second new ball was available, there was a lot of thought given to whether we should go for it because the old ball was working well enough for you. This is a pitch where magic won’t happen, the second new ball is not going get you 4-5 wickets. it’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely. Teams mulled over and saw whether the old ball was good enough. But, India went for the attacking option, took the 2nd new ball,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
“This was slightly on the cards because it was a flat pitch, the spinners were not going to get anything out of it. The seam bowlers were bowling well with the old ball. India had got a couple of quick wickets.
“Maybe, they could have carried on with the old ball for another 10 overs. if they would have found out that nothing was happening with the old ball, then they should have picked the 2nd new ball. The second new ball in these conditions is a double-edged sword. Cameron Green has got it eyes in,” he added.
Indian bowlers will be disappointed with their performance towards the fag end of the day’s play. However, there isn’t much help for the bowlers on the Ahmedabad pitch.
