Shubman Gill. (Photo Source: BCCI)
Sanjay Manjrekar blamed India’s batting debacles against spin bowling for the series defeat to New Zealand. This was after the Tom Latham-led side won the second Test in Pune on Saturday, October 26, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Manjrekar opined that if the Indian top-order showed more confidence and resilience against the spinners and trusted their defensive techniques, the hosts could have gotten very close to chasing down the fourth innings target of 359 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s enterprising half-century gave India a flying start but they collapsed from 120/2 to 245-all-out, after the southpaw was dismissed for 77 in the 22nd over of the chase. An unfortunate run-out of Rishabh Pant meant that the Indian batting-order capitulated against the New Zealand spinners, leaving Ravindra Jadeja with too much to do by himself with the tail. While Jadeja scored 42 off 84 balls, India lost the match by 113 runs to suffer their first Test series defeat at home since 2012.
Manjrekar said that three out of the top four Indian batters were not comfortable playing spin. He was particularly critical of Gill, who got out to Mitchell Santner in both innings.
“When Yashasvi and Shubman were going together, I thought that there would be a surprise around the corner. Shubman Gill clearly does not have the feel for spinners. Batters who can work with their footwork instinctively, he clearly is under pressure when he is playing spinners on turning pitches,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
Kohli missed the line once again: Manjrekar
“Virat Kohli once again misread the length. The ball was much fuller than he anticipated and came back into him sharply. Rohit Sharma was not confident at the crease. There are a lot of guys, top three out of four, who are short of confidence against spin. On pitches like these, you see that it is difficult to bat vs spin in the first session and a half. I think that if India backed their defence a little more, things could have gotten easier. If India had not lost too many wickets earlier, this game could have been much closer with Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja being around,” he further added.
India’s WTC hopes suffer major jolt
India managed to hold onto their top spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table even after losing back-to-back matches against the Kiwis. However, Australia are breathing down their neck and can displace them from the pole position during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which begins on November 22.
Also Read: Reports: Rohit, Kohli leave for Mumbai to be with family hours after Pune defeat
India need to win four out of their remaining six Test matches to qualify for the WTC final. They have one more Test remaining against New Zealand followed by five-Test tour of Australia.