'I saw in both innings, Jadeja...You can't be doing that': Manjrekar fumes at Rohit Sharma's 'senseless' tactic vs AUS
Amid India's collapse in the second innings, captain Rohit Sharma's strategy was lashed out at by veteran cricketers, one of them being ex-India batter Sanjay Manjrekar
Australia, for the first time in the series, have declared themselves as the firm favourites heading into the last and final innings of a match. Nathan Lyon's record eight-wicket haul helped Australia fold India for just 163 runs at the close of Day 2 of the third Test in Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, leaving the Steve Smith-led side a target of 76 runs to pull one back in the contest in Indore's Holkar Stadium. Amid India's collapse in the second innings, captain Rohit Sharma's strategy was lashed out at by veteran cricketers, one of them being ex-India batter Sanjay Manjrekar, who questioned the logic behind Ravindra Jadeja's batting position. (India vs Australia Live Score 3rd Test, Day 3)
With Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in the line-up, Shreyas Iyer's position in the batting order is No.5. However, in both the innings in Indore, Iyer was featured as a No.6 batter with all-rounder Jadeja given the No.5 responsibility. The left-handed batter has been in incredible form with the bat, having scored a valiant 70 in the opening Test.
But the ploy of playing Jadeja ahead of Iyer did not pay any dividends as the former returned with scores of 4 and 7. Iyer, on the other hand, was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and managed a 27-ball 26 in the next.
Speaking to Star Sports at the end of the proceedings on Day 2, Manjrekar was left furious at Rohit's decision to play Jadeja ahead of Iyer in the batting line-up, calling it 'senseless'.
"It has just disappointed me in the last and this innings as well that Jadeja came ahead of Shreyas Iyer. You can't be doing that for left-right combination. You've got a proper batter...even if he is a right hander. And Jadeja coming in as a left-hander...I can understand when you have 2-3 left-arm spinners like Bangladesh used to have in the past. Here you have two quality off-spinners bowling. It did not make any sense to me. Iyer has a great feel for spinners so you want him ahead in the line-up. And he has shown his class," he said.
Manjrekar also hailed Steve Smith for his strategy to counter spin-specialist Iyer as the India batter was dismissed by pacer Mitchell Starc.
"Great captaincy too from Australia's Steve Smith in the way he got Starc into the attack. They realised Iyer is so good against spin, let's try him against pace," he said.
