Rohit Sharma became the first Indian captain to lose a home Test series since 2012.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned captain Rohit Sharma’s approach to leadership after the loss in the second Test to New Zealand in Pune. With this loss, India also lost the series conceding a 0-2 lead with one Test to go.
Manjrekar was not pleased with India’s decision to promote Washington Sundar to bat at No. 6 in the second inning of the second Test.
To keep the left-right combo at the crease, Sundar came out to bat ahead of Sarfaraz Khan after Rishabh Pant was run out. However, captain Rohit Sharma's decision to send Sundar over Sarfaraz did not sit well with Manjrekar, who advised the Indian captain against playing T20 tactics in the five-day format of the game.
“India backed themselves; they batted first, but 46 all out is a problem. It should have been a 180-all-out; the series would have panned out differently. But I would say this though that a move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and send Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander—those kinds of things shouldn’t happen. It’s just bizarre. That’s one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of. The T20 kind of thinking, like those matchups, you should go by the overall quality of players,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo show.
Manjrekar also believes that India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, should not be blamed for the devastating setback in the Test series against New Zealand. According to him, the coach has "minimal influence on the team."
“I will still maintain that the coach has minimal influence on a team. He does not set foot on the ground; the captain is in charge out there. But you have to applaud him for Washington Sundar’s selection, which was an immediate hit.
But the move to send him ahead of Sarfaraz Khan or maybe four spinners here would have made more sense. But to put any kind of responsibility on the door of Gautam Gambhir would be terribly unfair because until now we can't do it. After all because, in cricket, a coach has minimal influence on performances,” said Manjrekar.
The third and final Test will be played in Mumbai from November 1 onwards.