"Remember he dismissed Alastair Cook 6 times in 8 innings"- Sanjay Manjrekar baffled by Ravindra Jadeja not bowling a single over on Day 1
Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar expressed surprise over left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja not bowling a single over on Day 1 of the second India-Bangladesh Test in Kanpur. Despite only 35 overs being bowled in the day due to bad weather, the three Indian pacers bowled 26 overs between them, with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowling nine.
The reason Jadeja did not bowl at all could have been the Bangladesh top four, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, and Najmul Hossain Shanto, who were left-handers and played all but 13 deliveries on Day 1.
Yet, in his conversation with ESPNcricinfo at stumps on the opening day, Manjrekar pointed to Jadeja's outstanding Test record against former England captain Sir Alastair Cook, who was a left-handed batter.
"This is an ongoing trend even in Test cricket, but when you have a quality bowler like Jadeja, who has a good record against left-handers. Remember, he dismissed Alastair Cook six times in eight innings. So not giving him the ball at all was baffling," said Manjrekar.
Jadeja boasts an excellent record against left-handers in Tests with 102 wickets at an average of 24.30. The numbers look even better in home conditions for the veteran left-arm spinner with 69 wickets at an average of 22.10 in India.
"When it comes to spin, Rohit favors Ashwin a bit more" - Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar felt Indian skipper Rohit Sharma favors Ravichandran Ashwin more than the other spinners in Test cricket. Even in the first Bangladesh Test, Ashwin bowled 34 overs compared to Jadeja's 23.1 as India pulled off a massive 280-run victory.
"Every captain has an approach, keeping in mind the bowlers he has. It's nothing wrong because captains tend to trust some bowlers more. I have noticed this, not particularly in this series, when it comes to spin, Rohit favors Ashwin a bit more. Yes he did have a reason here because there were two left-handers, but match-ups should merely be guidelines," Manjrekar said in the same interaction.
He also pointed to how left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan troubled Rishabh Pant in the first Test despite the latter's second-inning century to highlight why Jadeja should have bowled even to left-handers.
"As you see in this series, in the previous match, Shakib Al Hasan had troubled Rishabh Pant, and there was also a dropped catch scenario," added Manjrekar.
With that said, India reduced Bangladesh to 107/3 in the 35 overs bowled on Day 1 of the second Test. Right-arm pacer Akash Deep picked up two wickets, while Ashwin trapped skipper Najmul Shanto for 31.