NEW DELHI: After India’s first Test loss to New Zealand in Bengaluru, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar questioned captain Rohit Sharma‘s tactical choices.
After New Zealand added 137 vital runs for the eighth wicket in their first innings, Rohit came under heavy fire for his captaincy. On the fifth day of the contest, the criticism persisted.
Only after 10 runs had been scored did Rohit decide to bring on Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s most effective bowler at home, with New Zealand requiring 107 runs to win.Rather, he used Mohammed Siraj, who failed to produce any returns in two spells of seven overs and was wicketless.
“The thing with pacers, you might get wickets, but there are always runs coming through edges. I was a bit surprised, I think tactically for Rohit Sharma, this Test match wasn’t his greatest. I can understand Siraj getting one or two overs and Bumrah getting a long spell. But Siraj getting 6 overs in that spell, I think that is far too many and already a lot of runs on the board, and you had that little margin to chase,” Manjrekar said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“And another part is Aswhin. When there is no lavish turn on the pitch, the captain tends to use him with a new ball. He would have been tough for the Kiwi batters had he started off with Bumrah, and even if he had come in the fourth over of the inning,” he added.
He drew attention to India’s crucial tactical mistakes on the last day. It was only New Zealand’s third Test victory overall and their first in India since 1988.
Rohit Sharma commended his team’s tenacity, especially their comeback in the second innings, despite the shocking eight-wicket defeat. India demonstrated incredible tenacity by scoring 462 to set a target of 107 for New Zealand despite trailing by a significant 356 runs at the end of the first innings.
“It was a good effort with the bat in the second innings. We didn’t bat well in the first innings. So knew what was ahead and couple of guys stood out. When you are 350 behind you can’t think too much about it. just got to see the ball and bat. Couple of partnerships were really exciting to watch and got us back in the game. We could have easily been bowled out cheaply but proud of the effort,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
India needs to win the next two Test matches to keep up their remarkable 18-match winning streak in home Test series. From October 24, India and New Zealand will play their second Test match in Pune.