Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes Ravindra Jadeja needs to polish his against spin, especially after the India all-rounder was dismissed by Nathan Lyon on Day 3 of the ongoing Melbourne Test against Australia.

After the visitors resumed their first innings at 164/5, many had hoped for a significant batting contribution from Jadeja. However, the southpaw struggled to tackle Lyon’s spin and was dismissed for 17.

Speaking to Star Sports, Manjrekar highlighted Jadeja’s tentativeness against Lyon despite showing confidence while facing the Australian pacers.

"He played the fast bowlers a lot and played them very well. He didn't make even a slight mistake against the fast bowlers. However, once Nathan Lyon came, he was expecting off-spin, that the ball would turn. His bat came for the off-spin and the ball was not turning at all. So he played with that mindset," Manjrekar said.

"It seems like Jadeja needs to practice a little more against spin because he is looking absolutely comfortable against seam. He used to play very well against spin earlier but it happens that when you play overseas, you start playing fast bowling well and your focus is slightly removed from spin. If only fast bowlers had been there, Jadeja would have played a big knock," he added.

Ravindra Jadeja managed only 2 runs off 14 balls from Nathan Lyon before being trapped LBW, a dismissal that left the tourists reeling at 221/7.

After his dismissal, Washington Sundar joined forces with Nitish Kumar Reddy. The pair stitched a first 127-run partnership to keep India in the hunt.

While Sundar was dismissed for 50, Nitish held the one end firmly and batted with the tail-enders to bring up his maiden Test hundred.

Soon after Reddy’s ton, the players walked off the field due to bad light and the subsequent rain resulted in early stumps. India were 358/9 at the close of play with Reddy (105*) and Siraj (2*) at the crease, reducing the deficit to 116 runs.