Sanjay Manjrekar says Akash Deep was just too eager on opening day of Lord’s Test against England

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Akash Deep tried too hard on the opening day of the Lord’s Test against England. After taking a 10-wicket haul in the second Test at Edgbaston, Deep went wicketless on Thursday.

The Bengal fast bowler returned with figures of 0-75 in the 17 overs he bowled. Deep was given the new ball along with Jasprit Bumrah by Shubman Gill but he could not provide a breakthrough to the visitors.

Manjrekar said Deep lost control and simplicity as he was looking to get a wicket on every ball.

“I think Akash Deep just was too eager, a common mistake that bowlers make. He got 10 wickets in the last match, then bowling first, where he thought there would be some movement and there was an attempt to get a wicket every ball. What he then lost in the process was control and simplicity, which was his biggest weapon, and the reason for his success in the last Test,” Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.

On the other hand, England’s veteran batter Joe Root scored an unbeaten knock of 99 runs. Manjrekar said Root is a chief collector of runs as he scored the lion’s share of his runs by rotating the strike and compared the English batter’s approach with Sachin Tendulkar.

“I called him (Root) collector, now I am upgrading him to chief collector. If you remember Tendulkar in his last few years of his career. When he started batting he was not a collector, he was a dominator, we used to call him Master Blaster. After that he matured, became a wise guy, and started collecting runs. This is what great players do, once they get in, and Root knew that there was not going to be that kind of a Bumrah threat on this pitch, he started collecting runs,” Manjrekar said.

Manjrekar reckons England is all set to get a big score as they have depth in their batting order, and Indian batters would need to continue their rich form.

“Jamie Smith coming into bat, Chris Woakes will bat better on this pitch, so you cannot rule out a big score, whether Joe Root is in or out. India will be expected to get another big score with the kind of confidence that they have. The way these two teams are playing, it’s like a typical tennis match,” he concluded.

England ended the opening day at 251-4.