The recent ENG vs IND five-match Test series witnessed some high-octane action with both teams sharing spoils in the end. While England had the edge coming into the final game, India managed to pull off an incredible fightback to salvage a 2-2 series draw. However, despite such thrilling action, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar wasn’t exactly impressed with the standard of cricket being played and labelled the bowling attacks of both teams as weak.
SVL
–
BVB
–
ROR
–
KNK
–
TBW
–
VSS
–
ROR
–
AMR
–
SKA
–
TKR
–
ABF
–
SLK
–
SDS
–
PD
–
NDT
–
NDS
–
SDSW
–
NDSW
–
EDRW
–
CDQW
–
NOR
–
SWE
–
SWE
–
HUN
–
NOR
–
HUN
–
THCC
–
MRSC
–
THCC
–
KHTC
–
MRSC
–
KSV
–
KHTC
–
MTV
–
KSV
–
MTV
–
JZ-W
–
LL-W
–
JZ-W
–
LL-W
–
JZ-W
–
LL-W
–
MID
–
YOR
–
KENT
–
LAN
–
SOM
–
BB
–
NOR
–
SUSS
–
LEI
–
ESS
–
GLAM
–
NOT
–
WOR
–
GLO
–
SURR
–
HAM
–
BAN
–
IND
–
Match Called off
KRMPS
–
NCMI
–
TCC
–
CEC-A
–
JJ
–
KUMS
–
BNC
–
GUJCC
–
MGD
–
BNB
–
MYW
–
SML
–
MYW
–
BNB
–
GBM
–
HBT
–
IAI
–
MAT
–
ROS
–
MUT
–
YSG
–
MAT
–
RNC
–
IAI
–
MAO
–
NOS
–
BIP
–
LOS
–
SOB
–
OVI
–
MOW-W
–
NOS-W
–
BIP-W
–
LSW-W
–
SBW-W
–
OIW-W
–
CHK
–
AS-A
–
NTS
–
HHA
–
PSA
–
BANA
–
NEP
–
MS-A
–
NTS
–
ACOM
–
MR-A
–
PS
–
MEMA
–
KASS
–
KARS
–
GOLS
–
NOSK
–
LUF
–
Manjrekar was particularly critical of Jasprit Bumrah, who was limited to playing only three out of the five games owing to workload management. Jasprit Bumrah also registered an unwanted record of conceding over 100 runs in a single innings during the fourth Test at Manchester. The flat pitches also played their part in taking the sting out of both bowling attacks.
Echoing on the same lines, Manjrekar wrote in his column for the Hindustan Times,
“For starters, sorry to burst the bubble, it has to be one of the weakest bowling attacks from both sides that I have seen in a series featuring two main stream teams.”
He added, “The one bowler with great skills and ability had a bizarre approach to playing in this series even before it began, so bowling greatness or excellence was seen very sporadically over 175 hours of Test cricket.”
ALSO READ:
Apart from the Bumrah call, Manjrekar also expressed his discontent over the decision not to use India’s X-factor bowler Kuldeep Yadav in the series. With Bumrah sitting out a couple of games, it was expected that Kuldeep would be given a chance as he is a genuine wicket-taking option. However, Gambhir and the team management preferred to go with their strategy of three all-rounders in order to have more batting depth and sacrificed Kuldeep in the process.
Although the decision eventually paid off as Shubman Gill and Co secured a hard-earned draw, Manjrekar called for the BCCI and the selectors to question such ‘tactical mistakes’ and ‘selection blunders’ so that they are not repeated in the future.
India’s next Test assignment will be a two-match home Test series against West Indies in October followed by another couple of Tests against South Africa in November.
