&w=3840&q=100)
Ravindra Jadeja lacked 'tactical awareness' at Headingley, says Sanjay Manjrekar while backing Kuldeep Yadav
Sanjay Manjrekar did not mince his words as he said that experienced Ravindra Jadeja put in a 'disappointing' performance in India's defeat against England at Headingley. He also made case for Kuldeep Yadav's inclusion. read more
Sanjay Manjrekar felt Ravindra Jadeja as an experienced bowler needed to do more for India in the Headingley Test. Images: JioHotstar/Reuters
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.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
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.
Also Read | Hussain criticises Gill's captaincy; Broad calls out India's inability to close match
'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.
Also Read | Where Team India went wrong in 1st Test at Headingley and why they lost
'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.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
'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
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
16 minutes ago
- India.com
India vs England 2nd Test: Bring Kuldeep Yadav in for Shardul Thakur at Edgbaston demands…
Shardul Thakur claimed a couple of wickets in second innings of 1st Test vs England in Leeds. (Photo: ANI) Team India have an unwanted slice of history, becoming the first team in the history of Test cricket to lose a game after scoring five centuries. Shubman Gill's Indian side are down 1-0 in the five-match series after losing the first Test at Headingley in Leeds by five wickets. One of India's biggest weakness was the inability of the bowlers to claim 20 wickets in the Test match. Indians failed to defend a massive target of 371 runs in the fourth innings as well. Pick your best bowlers, says Sanjay Manjrekar Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes the team should consider bringing in Kuldeep Yadav to replace all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who looked far from threatening in his comeback Test. '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,' JioHotstar expert Manjrekar 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. 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 added. Kuldeep Yadav has amazing record in Test cricket Delhi Capitals chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has a brilliant record in Test cricket with 56 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 22.16. His last match came against New Zealand in Bengaluru last year. '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,' Manjrekar felt. Shardul Thakur only bowled six overs in the first innings and only managed to claim 2 wickets in the second innings of the English chase. The Mumbai all-rounder also lasted only a handful of deliveries while batting in both the innings. The second Test between India and England will begin at Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 2.
Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Headingley whodunit: Coloured coats, black line in stands, crowded stands and general sloppiness conspire dropped catches
Since 2019, it was the first time India had dropped more than five catches. A probe into the greasy fingers that proved expensive at Headingley. First innings 6.6 Ravindra Jadeja drops Ben Duckett on 15 As Jasprit Bumrah provided rare width to cut, Duckett slashed hard at this one, which took the outside edge and flew low towards Jadeja at backward point. Despite getting both hands to it, Jadeja ended up grassing it. Duckett made 62. 30.6 Yashasvi Jaiswal drops Ollie Pope on 60 In the previous over, Bumrah had removed Duckett as India sensed an opening and nearly had the set batsman Pope who was in middle of a fluent knock. He tried to steer Bumrah through the cordon, but got a thick edge which Jaiswal dropped in the cordon, the ball hitting the wrists. Pope went on to make 106. 71.1 Rishabh Pant drops Harry Brook on 46 Ravindra Jadeja was in the middle of one good spell when he induced an edge of Brook who was struggling against the spinner. But because of the extra bounce, the ball climbed at Pant at an awkward height who couldn't get a hand to it. Brook went on to make 99. 84.6 Jaiswal drops Brook on 84 Of all the drops, it was the most straightforward one. As Brook tried to guide Bumrah through the slip cordon, all that he managed was an edge which went in the direction of Jaiswal at fourth slip. But the Indian opener fluffed a simple chance, handing Brook another life. Second innings 28.5 Bumrah drops Zak Crawley on 42 As England openers were setting up a strong platform, they remained error-free as India toiled for a break. In the 29th over, Crawley drove on the up giving a caught and bowled chance to Bumrah, who was still in his follow through with the ball flying low. Hit his palm and the floor. Crawley made 65. 38.5 Jaiswal drops Duckett on 97 Mohammed Siraj delivered a short ball with fielders lined-up on the leg-side boundary. Jaiswal ran in, covered the ground and got both hands to the ball, but couldn't hold on to it as Siraj looked totally frustrated. Duckett went on to make a match-winning 149. England too dropped catches–as many as four were spilled in India's second innings. So it could be venue specific as well. Former England captain Alastair Cook reckoned a black line in the stands' backdrop could be a reason. 'I think the main reason for this ground in particular, if you look at the stands there's a black line, a really dark black line and if the ball goes into that, I think players miss it a little bit,' said Cook. 'You miss picking up that crucial bit and you panic. When you want to catch, you want to have firm, hard hands but also a nice relaxed body. So if you miss a little bit and you think, 'where's the ball gone?' You panic and you get electric hands,' he added Cook's teammate Stuart Broad reckoned it is easy to lose the sight of the ball at the venue.'Headingley is a difficult viewing ground,' said Broad, speaking on Sky Sports. 'You can lose a ball in the stands, and when the clouds are in, certain bits are darker. You only have to lose it for 0.1 seconds and you get tense. Broad also revealed that since the stands were packed, it could be harder for fielders to pick the ball from the crowd. 'I think it can be quite a difficult place to catch, to be honest. Do you know what actually makes it harder? It's the crowd. When it gets a bit colder, the crowd have different coloured coats on, and there's a couple of empty seats in the stands as well, so the ball comes out a bit differently from the crowd. Also when the sun's not out, when the clouds are in, it can just be a little bit darker in certain parts of the ground.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
28 minutes ago
- First Post
Opinion: Let us all help Shubman Gill transition from boy-in-charge to man-in-command
After India's defeat in the 1st Test against England at Leeds, questions are being raised about Shubman Gill's captaincy. But amid criticism, there are also calls for patience as Team India is currently undergoing a major transition phase in red-ball cricket. read more Does criticism help? Yes, if it is constructive and if the party being analysed takes it in the right spirit. Criticising someone for just the sake of criticism, and conveniently at a time when they are down, is just plain mean and helps no one. Should Team India have won the first Test vs England at Leeds – a venue they haven't won a Test in since 2002? Yes. Most top teams would not have lost this match after having the opposition on their knees and that too on more than one occasion. The visitors failed to deliver the knockout punch, simple as that. There's absolutely no arguing with that. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Too soon to judge Gill's captaincy But to see fingers being pointed at new Test captain Shubman Gill , bringing his leadership capabilities into question after just one match in charge seems rather unfair. Reading a few reports the day after the result at the home of Yorkshire cricket, it feels as if there's more frustration about the fact that the visiting side couldn't get across the finish line, in what was a golden chance to go 1-0 up in the series (which is completely understandable). Have these critics forgotten that experience is the best teacher? This was literally the first time ever that Shubman was marshalling the troops in Test match cricket. Ask yourself this question - 'were you expecting Shubman to be a top-notch captain, especially while India were fielding, because of the results he has produced as Gujarat Titans skipper in the IPL?' If yes, you need to realign your expectations with reality. This is Test cricket, the highest, most gruelling form of cricket there is, not franchise T20 cricket. This loss at Leeds really hurts because India could have won this match , for sure. If some of the catches that were dropped were held, if numbers 6-11 had done better than scoring a total of 65 runs, both innings combined, if Bumrah had got more support from the other bowlers in England's first innings or if India's bowling attack overall was more incisive in the English second innings, the result could well have been very different. But let's face the fact – the stable door was left unlocked and the horse has bolted. It's one down, four to go and that's how Team India should approach the rest of the series. A team in transition We must remember that the Indian Test team is currently in a state of transition. It's not just that there's no Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin for the first time in 14 years for India in Test match cricket (which in itself is a massive change). For a new captain, who has had no previous leadership experience at senior Test level, to come in and take charge is difficult. Multiple members of the Indian squad which is in England currently are older than Shubman and have more senior India team experience. Imagine being a 25-year-old, leading a team of older, more experienced men – it's been done before of course, but it's not the easiest thing to do – in any line of work. Let's give the young man some time to settle in. This is where senior players like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and Head coach Gautam Gambhir should throw their complete and absolute support behind Shubman. It was good to hear Gambhir defend Shubman wholeheartedly at the post-match press conference. Shubman has been pushed into the deep-end. It wasn't done all of a sudden of course (like it was with Virat Kohli in 2014) and he walked into it with his eyes wide open. If Jasprit Bumrah had not picked up the back injury on the last tour of Australia, which showed that he won't be able to handle the rigours of 5 Tests in a series, it would have been India's pace spearhead who would have been leading the team in red ball cricket right now and not Shubman. And the buck always stops with the captain, as it should. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Kohli took his time too But Shubman has literally begun his Test captaincy education. Now we need to wait and see if he can go from boy-in-charge to man-in-command and how quickly. And he needs everyone's help to do that. Virat, who is India's most successful Test captain of all time (win percentage of 58.82), lost his first Test match as stand-in captain (Adelaide, 2014) as well as his first Test as full-time Test captain (Galle, 2015). He then went on to win 40 of the 68 Tests he was in charge of. Just like Shubman (147 & 8), Virat too had a first innings century and a low score in the second (103 & 3) in that Galle Test. Some are comparing Virat's captaincy style with Gill's, asking for Gill to toughen up. Whether he manages to do it the way Virat did depends entirely on his own personality. Two captains with different personality traits can both be successful captains. Shubman is India's fifth youngest Test captain ever, and also someone who has been handed the reins of the Test team for the first time and asked to begin his captaincy journey with a Test tour of a country where India have not been victorious in a series since 2007. It is imperative for all of us to be patient, to not get frustrated (no matter how difficult it might be) when Test match results don't go our way in the near future. Most, if not every top team in the world has gone through tough transition phases. Gill will learn, he will evolve. He will hopefully get the help and support he needs. He was put in charge as a long-term option, because there's ample time for him to pick up things and keep getting better. He is a very intelligent young man, and it would be a crying shame if he is attacked from the get-go. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Positives from Leeds Let's also try and focus on some of the positives. I wanted to see Shubman fill the crucial number 4 slot vacated by Virat Kohli, who occupied it after Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013. And the way the Indian captain (who doesn't have a great batting record outside of Asia yet) batted in the first innings, scoring 147 was very, very impressive. It was also great to see Sai Sudharsan make his Test debut. He might have scored only 30 (both innings combined), but remember the team management has to keep one eye on the future as well. It was so good to see KL Rahul open the batting and shoulder the expectations and the responsibility with so much trademark composed flair and a very well-deserved century. The fact that the India top 5 scored over 81% of the total runs scored by the team in the first Test (679 of 835 runs), with five centuries, could be seen as the lower order not managing to pitch in at all, of course. But it is also a good sign to see most of the the pure batters of this young team pulling their weight. Key areas for improvement However, having said that, counting down to the second Test in Birmingham, which starts on July 2, the big focus has to be on making sure the lower order contributes much more. Gill the fielding captain has to be more proactive and involved. The catching has to improve and also the overall character shown on the field. This is Test cricket. No matter what might be happening, the shoulders can't droop. The body language has to remain positive. Gambhir has said that the team is yet to decide which two other Tests Bumrah will play. If he is rested for the second Test, the task at hand becomes harder for Gill and vice-captain Pant. To come back from 0-1 down on a foreign tour and that too without the services of your best fast bowler is not a position any team would want to be in. But this also is an opportunity to do something very special. Remember the Test series win in Australia in 2020-21, when the Indian team, which lost the first Test, and was already without their top two first choice bowlers, then lost three more bowlers to injury and yet went on to win the 4-Test series 2-1? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD These are the kind of situations that forge character. England are beatable There's no doubt that the current English side is very much beatable in their own backyard. Especially at a time when they don't have the services of viciously fast bowlers like Jofra Archer (who hasn't played a Test match since February 2021 and is currently trying to prove that he is fit for Test cricket), Mark Wood (who underwent a knee surgery and will not play at least the next three Tests of the ongoing series), Ollie Robinson (who is currently persona non grata) and Olly Stone (who is frequently injured). Maybe the 'management decision' to ask James Anderson to hang up his boots wasn't a great one. The fact that there were as many as four Indian centurions and a total of five centuries scored against the current English bowling attack is not something that will sit well with coach Brendon McCullum or captain Ben Stokes, no matter how much they credit their 'attitude'. Now is the time for captain Gill and his team to try and learn from the mistakes that were made in Headingley and try and fix as many chinks in their armour as they can – tactical and analytical. Now is the time for the team management to stand firmly behind each and every player and give them the confidence that they can bounce back hard and beat an opponent who might be high on confidence, but one which is also not invincible. Now is the time for the think tank to decide what they need to do differently in Birmingham and if any personnel changes need to be made to the playing XI. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Now is the time to believe that this series can still be won, no matter what the odds.
