WTC final: "I think that backfired as mostly it does"- Sanjay Manjrekar on Ravindra Jadeja's selection against New Zealand
Sanjay Manjrekar was disappointed with Team India selecting Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI for the World Test Championship final. Manjrekar stated that the decision to play Jadeja the batsman backfired like it always does as there wasn't much turn on offer for the southpaw to exploit with the ball.
While picking up his playing XI before the start of the WTC final, Sanjay Manjrekar had included Hanuma Vihari, a specialist batsman in place of Ravindra Jadeja.
Manjrekar has once again gone on to suggest that Jadeja is not yet good enough to play for India's Test team purely based on his batting skills. The 55-year-old said on ESPNCricinfo:
"If you have to look at how India went about before the game started, picking two spinners was always a debatable selection especially when the conditions were overcast and the toss was delayed by a day. They picked one player for his batting, which was Ravindra Jadeja, and his left-arm spin wasn't the reason he was picked. He was picked for his batting and that is something that I am always against."
Adding further, Manjrekar stated that trusting Ravindra Jadeja's batting skills 'backfired as it mostly does'.
"You have got to pick specialist players in the team and if they felt that the pitch was dry and turning, they would have picked Ravindra Jadeja for his left-arm spin, along with Ashwin, that would have made sense. But they picked him for his batting and I think that backfired as mostly it does."
Sanjay Manjrekar bats for Hanuma Vihari's selection
Hanuma Vihari last played a Test match for India earlier this year in Sydney in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he held up one end, despite a hamstring injury, to help his team earn a much-needed draw against Australia on the final day.
Sanjay Manjrekar believes playing a specialist like Hanuma Vihari might have stretched India's lead further in the second innings when they were bowled out for just 170.
"Had they had a specialist batsman in Hanuma Vihari for example, who had a pretty good defence, that would have been handy. Maybe 170 could have been 220, 225 or 230, who knows?" Manjrekar questioned.
India will be keen to iron out their flaws following the defeat against New Zealand. Virat Kohli and co will have a huge task on their hands when they take on England in a five-match Test series starting in August.