Only 35 overs of play was possible due to rain on Day 1 of the second Test match between India and Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
Opting to bowl first, the hosts reduced the visitors to 107/3 at stumps. While pacer Akash Deep claimed a couple of wickets with the new ball, star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin returned with a solitary scalp in the post lunch session.
Reflecting on the rain-truncated proceeding in Kanpur, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was left baffled by one of captain Rohit Sharma's tactics.
Among the Indian bowlers, only Ravindra Jadeja did not bowl on Day 1, which led to Manjrekar questioning Rohit’s ploy.
Manjrekar pointed out that Rohit tends to "favour" Ashwin more in spin-friendly conditions. With two left-handers at the crease, it seemed a good strategy to bowl the off-spinner, but the cricketer-turned-commentator was quick to highlight Jadeja's record against Alastair Cook, the leading run-getter among left-handers in Tests.
"Rohit needs to be shown this stat- JADEJA vs COOK, 2016 series: In 8 inngs, got him out 6 times, conceded just 75 runs. Rohit tends to not bowl Jadeja early when there are left landers out there," Manjrekar tweeted.
In a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said match-ups should merely be guidelines, citing the example of Bangladesh using Shakib Al Hasan against Rishabh Pant in the first Test at Chepauk.
“Every captain has an approach, keeping in mind the bowlers he has. It's nothing wrong because captains tend to trust some bowlers more. I have noticed this, not particularly in this series, when it comes to spin, Rohit favours Ashwin a bit more. Yes he did have a reason here because there were two left-handers, but match-ups should merely be guidelines,” Manjrekar stated.
“As you see in this series, in the previous match, Shakib Al Hasan had troubled Rishabh Pant, and there was also a dropped catch scenario. This is an ongoing trend even in Test cricket, but when you have a quality bowler like Jadeja, who has a good record against left-handers. Remember, he dismissed Alastair Cook six times in eight innings. So not giving him the ball at all was baffling,” he further remarked.
