He took only one wicket.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar slammed India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his poor outing in the first Test against England in Leeds. India suffered a five-wicket loss to England in the first Test on Tuesday, and the veteran was far from impressive.
The 36-year-old was the last man standing for India in the second innings after he was not out on 25. But he endured a forgettable outing with the ball in both innings. Ravindra Jadeja registered figures of 0/68 in the first innings and followed it up with 1/104 in the second innings.
“See, it’s not fair to be critical of the younger players like Prasidh Krishna. There are obvious areas of improvement, but I’m going to be critical of Jadeja because this is a final-day pitch. I know there were a couple of chances there, but we have to expect more from Jadeja. I thought he didn’t use the rough enough against Ben Stokes. He did, but against Ben Duckett very late in the day,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports after the match.
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Manjrekar was disappointed that Jadeja failed to make the most out of the pitch, wherein there was nothing much for the seamers.
“And somewhere, I think Jadeja was disappointing because the seamers had nothing in the pitch for them. But at least Jadeja has something,” the former Mumbai cricketer opined.
On Day four of the first Test, India had set a target of 371 after centuries from KL Rahul (137) and Rishabh Pant (118) led them to 364 in the second innings.
This was after India had posted 471 in the first innings on the back of centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), Shubman Gill (147), and Rishabh Pant (134). England, on the back of a century from Ollie Pope, responded by posting 465 in the first innings.
The hosts were off to a strong start in the run chase with openers Zak Crawley (65) and Ben Duckett (149) forging a 188-run partnership. That set the platform for England’s win. They suffered a small setback with Shardul Thakur striking twice in the 55th over with the dismissals of Ben Duckett and Harry Brook.
Nevertheless, Joe Root (53*), Ben Stokes (33), and Jamie Smith (44*) ensured that England crossed the finish line without any further trouble.
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