Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has slammed India’s selection in the fourth Test match against England. Manjrekar reckons the idea of playing an extra all-rounder to provide batting depth has to be dumped. The cricketer-turned-commentator believes India should have played a specialist batter in place of Shardul Thakur.
While Thakur scored a crucial knock of 41 runs in the first innings, he could not deliver with the ball. Thakur was given only 11 overs by Shubman Gill and he conceded 55 runs, giving away his runs at an economy rate of five runs/over.
Manjrekar noted that India has done well with the bat but their selection throughout the series has been questionable.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “What is coming through for everyone, despite India’s heroism with the bat, is that the selections have been quite poor. We saw what Shardul Thakur was capable of in the first Test and despite that he was picked again. This inclination to have a bowler because he can bat a bit has to be dumped. India, in this particular Test match, needed a pure batter.
The former Mumbai batter also feels a pure bowler would have been a better option for the visitors.
“Now we are seeing why India is catching up with England – just the mountain of runs that were piled up. KL Rahul and Shubman Gill are trying their best to salvage [the situation]. A pure batter in the team would have been handy plus a pure wicket-taker with the ball. It’s just been hard to understand,” Manjrekar added.
Once again, India’s wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was ignored by the team’s think tank. Manjrekar noted that Yadav not playing a single Test out of the four matches, tells us about the approach of the team’s think tank.
Manjrekar concluded, “Kuldeep Yadav not playing the whole series tells you the approach of this Indian team management. Jadeja has got the runs, almost saw India win. But as a bowler, he hasn’t contributed, so that has hurt India. Washington Sundar got four wickets in the last game, so Kuldeep Yadav had to sit again.”
Yadav has scalped 56 wickets in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 22.16. Against England, Kuldeep has bagged 21 wickets in six Test matches at an impressive average of 22.28.
