New Delhi [India]: Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar urged Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to come out of “T20 thinking” during Test matches, as shown by usage of left-hand, and right-hand combinations during the loss to New Zealand in the second Test at Pune.
Indian batters got the taste of their own medicine as the Kiwi spin attack led by Mitchell Santner, who took 13 wickets in the match, trapped the hosts in their own spin trap and defeated India by 113 runs to secure the series 2-0 with a game to go. During the match, India’s use of left-hand and right hand combinations was pretty evident.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Sanjay urged Rohit to go by the overall quality and ability of players while deciding the batting order.
“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 should not happen. It’s just bizarre. That’s one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of…the T20 thinking of matchups left-hand-right-hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players,” Manjrekar said.
Coming to the match, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. Half-centuries from Devon Conway (76 in 141 balls, with 11 fours) and Rachin Ravindra (65 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six) placed Kiwis in a strong position at 197/3, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3/41) being the only one to have made some dents into the batting. Floodgates opened for wickets after Conway’s dismissal, with comeback man Washington Sundar (7/59) getting the remaining wickets to get NZ to 259 all out.
India was tasked to overcome this rather modest total and gain a sizeable lead. After skipper Rohit Sharma’s dismissal for a duck, youngsters Shubman Gill (30 in 72 balls, with two fours and a six) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (30 in 60 balls, with four boundaries) tried forming a partnership. However, their effort was cut short at 49 runs. Just like the first innings, dismissal of a set Gill paved way for Mitchell Santner to run through the Indian line up. Santner (7/53) and Glenn Phillips (2/26) made Indian batters dance to their tunes on their own pitches, skittling them out for just 156 runs. Ravindra Jadeja top-scored with 38 in 46 balls, with three fours and two sixes.
Kiwis got themselves in a commanding position in their second innings. Led by skipper Tom Latham’s 86 in 133 balls, with 10 fours and some important contributions from Phillips (48 in 82 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Tom Blundell (41 in 83 balls, with three fours), Kiwis increased their 103-run first inning lead to a lead of 358 runs, being skittled out for 255 after some fine bowling on first session of day three by spinners.
Sundar (4/56) once again lead the bowling from the front, with Jadeja (3/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/97) wiping the lower-middle order and tail.
In the chase of 359, India got a fine start from opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who stitched a valuable 62-run stand with Shubman Gill (23 in 31 balls, with four boundaries). However, after Jaiswal’s dismissal for 77 in 65 balls, with nine fours and three sixes, India never recovered, falling a prey to Kiwi spinners and bundled out for 245, losing the test by 113 runs. With this India also registered its first home series loss in 12 years.
Santner (6/104) was once again the star, taking 13 wickets in the match, with Phillips (two wickets) and Ajaz (one wicket) also offering some support to end the Test two days early.