Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar voiced his concerns over Rohit Sharma’s approach in India’s recent Test match loss to New Zealand. Manjrekar advised Rohit to be cautious about implementing T20 tactics in the longest format.
India’s Historic Test Loss and Manjrekar’s Disapproval
India faced a 113-run defeat against New Zealand in Pune, marking their first home Test series loss in 12 years.
Following this, Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Indian cricketer, raised concerns about Rohit Sharma’s tactical choices, especially the decision to send Washington Sundar in to bat ahead of Sarfaraz Khan and Ravindra Jadeja.
“India backed themselves, batted first but 46 all out is a problem. It should have been a 180 all out, the series would have panned out differently. But I would say this though, that move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and sending Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander, those kind of things shouldn’t happen. It’s just bizarre. That’s one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
“The T20 kind of thinking like those matchups, you should go by the overall quality of players,” he added.
This move, driven by the left-hand-right-hand combination, is common in T20 cricket but has limited success in Test matches. Manjrekar emphasised that Rohit should rely on players’ overall skills rather than specific matchups.
Minimal Role of the Coach
Manjrekar also defended head coach Gautam Gambhir, stating that a coach’s influence during games is minimal.
“I will still maintain that the coach has the minimal influence on a team. He does not set foot on the ground, the captain is in-charge out there. But you have to applaud him for Washington Sundar’s selection, which was an immediate hit,” said Manjrekar.
“But the move to send him ahead of Sarfaraz Khan or maybe four spinners here would have made more sense. But to put any kind of responsibility on the door of Gautam Gambhir would be terribly unfair because until now we can’t do it because in cricket, a coach has minimal influence on performances,” he added
the responsibility primarily lies with the captain on the field. Despite Gambhir’s selection of Washington Sundar being a positive decision, Manjrekar argued that the strategy of deploying him ahead of Sarfaraz seemed misaligned with Test cricket’s demands.
Team India Dominant No More Invincible
New Zealand stunned the cricketing world by defeating India by 113 runs in the second Test match at Pune, marking India’s first home Test series defeat in 12 years. The loss ended India’s undefeated run of 18 consecutive home Test series, a streak that began in 2013.
Mitchell Santner, leading the charge for New Zealand, took 13 wickets over the course of the match, making him only the third bowler to take 13 or more wickets against India in a Test on Indian soil. His outstanding performance in Pune has now solidified his place among the top Test spinners.
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