Manjrekar questioned underutilization of R Ashwin by Rohit Sharma in second innings.
India was blown away for 46 in their first innings after captain Rohit Sharma erred after winning the toss and chose to bat first on day 2 after day one was washed out due to rain. Matt Henry with 5 and Will O’Rourke with 4 wickets ran through Indian batting. KL Rahul scored a duck in the first innings.
In response, Devon Conway with 91, Rachin Ravindra with 134, and Tim Southee with 65 helped New Zealand post 402. In the second innings, India posted 462 runs thanks to 150 from Sarfaraz Khan and 99 by Rishabh Pant. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also scored the fifties. KL Rahul scored 12 runs in the second do.
Set 107 runs to win, New Zealand achieved the target with 8 wickets in hand, registering their first Test win in India after 1988.
Manjrekar argued that some of Rohit's decisions, particularly the bowling order, were incorrect and led to India's loss.
Manjrekar questioned Rohit's decision to give pacer Mohammed Siraj 7 overs during New Zealand's chase of a modest 107-run total. Given the circumstances, Manjrekar believes this was not the appropriate decision.
He also questioned the underutilization of top spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was only handed two overs in the final session. Manjrekar believes Ashwin might have played a significant role in defending the low total but was not utilized well by Rohit.
"I can understand Siraj getting one or two overs and Bumrah getting a long spell. But Siraj getting 6 overs in that forespell, I think that is far too many and already a lot of runs on the board, and you had that little margin to chase. And another part is Ashwin. When there is no lavish turn on the pitch, the captain tends to use him with a new ball. He would have been tough for the Kiwi batters had he started off with Bumrah, and even if he had come in in the fourth over of the innings," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
"The thing with pacers, you might get wickets, but there are always runs coming through edges...I was a bit surprised, I think tactically for Rohit Sharma, this Test match wasn't his greatest," Manjrekar added.
Manjrekar's judgment adds to growing doubts over India's methods, as the team prepares to bounce back in the next Test. The pressure is on Rohit and his team to make better judgments and turn this series around.
The second Test will begin from October 24 onwards and will be played at the MCA Stadium in Pune.