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Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was not happy with Rohit Sharma’s tactic of fielding Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as the fourth and fifth choice during England’s first innings in the third Test at Rajkot. After England’s openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley bowled in response to India’s 445, Rohit, instead of going straight to Ashwin, their main player in home conditions, bowled the ball to Kuldeep Yadav. The move yielded no results as Duckett was caught in the left-arm wrist spinner sweeping and sweeping back all over the ground.
Ashwin came into the attack in the 12th over when England had already raced to 72/0. Manjrekar said he could not understand the move and called it “an error of judgement” on the part of the Indian captain.
“I didn’t understand that move,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo when asked about Ashwin’s late arrival. “I thought it was a mistake. A tactical mistake. Ashwin bowled the first ball when the score was 72 and that is a lot. Among the Indian spinners, including Axar Patel, I think Ashiwn is the only one who started finding a way to counter this new English approach to bowling. He would have been my first choice player. I couldn’t understand Kuldeep Yadav coming in at that stage. There was also quite a bit of pace in the bowling when you could see that the fast bowlers were. It doesn’t really create any impression. “
Ashwin made an impact almost immediately. He removed Crawley in his seventh ball to break the threatening partnership. The wicket not only gave a sigh of relief to the Indian team but also brought out Ashwin’s 500th Test scalp. He became the fastest Indian and the second fastest in the world to achieve the milestone.
Manjrekar said Rohit must be careful against the dangerous England side. “These are the things Rohit Sharma has to be careful about. He has to deal with this opposition, which is very dangerous and ruthless,” he said.
‘Ashwin and Jadeja’s late introduction may come back to haunt India’: Manjrekar
Not only Ashwin but also Jadeja were introduced very late. The left-arm spinner got his first over after 23 overs were bowled and England raced to 132/1.
“Ashwin, coming after 72 runs on the board, can come back to haunt him and maybe also Jadeja, who came in to bowl when there were 100 runs on the board. He invested too much in pace. He has to be careful” . “Manjrekar added.
England finished Day 2 at 207/2 with Duckkett playing a large number of innings. He didn’t have 133 outs at stumps off just 118 balls.
India, however, took a heavy blow after the end of the game. Ashwin withdrew from the Rajkot Test and flew to Chennai due to a medical emergency in his family. He is unlikely to feature further in this Test, effectively reducing India to just four bowlers with plenty of cricket left to play.