NEW DELHI: Former batsman Sanjay Manjrekar feels it would be unjust to blame coach Gautam Gambhir for the Test series defeat to New Zealand, but former wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik feels the senior Indian players have the responsibility.
The Black Caps established an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series when India lost the second Test match against New Zealand by 113 runs in Pune on Saturday. This put an end to India’s impressive run of 18 straight home series victories after their 2012-13 defeat at the hands of England.
The senior players fared poorly in both games. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both had trouble at bat, while the powerful spin combination of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin also didn’t have much of an effect.
“Yeah. Why shouldn’t it (the onus of the series loss) be the senior players? They will look at themselves and say, ‘What could we have done better?’ I don’t think they have run away from it,” Karthik said on ‘Cricbuzz’.
“If you can celebrate the highs and the fans enjoy how important they are, when the team wins, then when the losses happen, and the brick bats are thrown at you I think they will have the courage to face it,” he added.
Karthik acknowledged that they did not have their finest series and stated that the seniors themselves will accept blame for the loss.
“If you go and ask each one of them personally, what they think of the series I don’t think they’ll have great things to say about how the whole team played, and it is only but fair to ask them questions about what can be done better for future of Test cricket in India and for Indian Test cricket.
“So, knowing them personally, and I do know each one of them personally. They will say that they didn’t have the best series. The question then becomes what do they need to do to get better and it is a very very current question to ask,” he detailed.
Following India’s tactical errors and frequent batting collapses in the two Test matches, new head coach Gautam Gambhir has also come under criticism, but Manjrekar extended his support for the former opener.
“I will still maintain that the coach has the minimal influence on a team, lesser than your 11th weakest player. 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,” Manjrekar told ‘ESPNcricinfo’.
“But the move to send Washington 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.
Rohit should come out of the T20 thinking of match ups
Manjrekar questioned Rohit’s “bizarre” choice to send Washington, an all-rounder, ahead of Sarfaraz, who was in form.
“The 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…the T20 thinking of match ups left hand-right hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players.” Manjrekar said.
Rohit could score 60 runs in four innings (2,52;0,8) when India needed its seasoned batsmen to take the lead, but Kohli was somewhat superior with 88 runs (0,70;1,17).
The talismanic batsman could have adequately prepared for the lengthy Test schedule by making himself available for the domestic matches, according to former India captain Anil Kumble, who emphasized Kohli’s absence from the domestic circuit.
“Perhaps just one or two innings in a match situation could have helped. Being in an actual game is definitely more beneficial than just practice; it gives an upper hand,” Kumble said on ‘Jio Cinema’.
“If he feels that playing earlier would have benefited him, and the team management agrees, then maybe it would have,” he added.