Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has held Indian batsmen responsible for the defeat against New Zealand in the second Test in Pune. He also criticized captain Rohit Sharma for promoting Washington Sundar in the batting order ahead of Sarfaraz Khan.
After defeating India in the Pune Test, New Zealand took a 2–0 lead in the three-Test series and also won the series. India faced defeat in the home series after 12 years. Sanjay spoke to cricket website Cricinfo about the reasons behind India’s defeat in the Pune Test.
Manjrekar said the spinners had difficulty playing. Virat Kohli once again failed to judge the length of Mitchell Centrener’s ball correctly and got out after playing the wrong shot. While captain Rohit Sharma looked less confident against the spins. Three of the top four Indian batsmen lacked confidence against spin. On such grounds, it is difficult to combat spin during the first and middle of the session.
Manjrekar said if India had strengthened their defense a little more, things could have been easier. If India had not lost too many wickets earlier, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja could have made this match very close.
He said that when Shubhman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were on the field, they felt that they could swing the match in favor of the Indian team. Gill was seen wrestling the top.
It was not right to promote Washington. Sanjay Manjrekar also raised questions over Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. He said it was not fair to send all-rounder Washington Sundar to bat before in-form batsman Sarfaraz Khan. By sending Washington Sundar on because he is a left-handed batsman, things like this should not happen.
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Top 5 factors behind India’s loss to New Zealand: Flop, IPL hold-up and mega auctions diverted attention in the first innings of both Tests.
Indian cricket team’s streak of not losing a home Test series came to an end after 12 years and 18 series. New Zealand took an unassailable 2-0 lead by winning the first two out of three Tests. The question arises how did New Zealand achieve such a great feat? How have the Kiwis done what teams like Australia and England couldn’t over the last 12 years? Answers to these questions in 5 factors.