"It's just bizarre": Sanjay Manjrekar cautions Rohit Sharma against T20 style in Test cricket

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has warned India's captain Rohit Sharma for bringing the T20 style in Test cricket. Manjrekar was not happy with the move to send Washington Sundar to bat above Sarfaraz Khan in the second innings of the Pune Test against New Zealand.

The move to bat Washington Sundar above Sarfaraz Khan was mainly done to maintain the left-right combination in the middle. India had just lost the left-hander Rishabh Pant to a horrible run-out.

With the right-hander-Virat Kohli at the other end, the Indian team management decided to send the left-handed batter Washington Sundar to counter New Zealand's left-arm spinners, Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel.

Also read: Manoj Tiwary warns of “cracks” in Team India after shocking Test series defeat vs New Zealand

Sanjay Manjrekar cautions Rohit Sharma against T20 style in Test cricket

While speaking on ESPNCricinfo after India's defeat to New Zealand in Pune, Sanjay Manjrekar spoke about the move to send Washington Sundar above Sarfaraz Khan in the batting order. Sanjay Manjrekar was clearly not pleased with this decision and immediately warned Rohit Sharma not to make the same mistake again.

The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that the batters must be sent according to their ability and warned Rohit Sharma of bringing the T20 style of play in Test cricket.

"The move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and sending Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander, those kind of things shouldn't happen. It's just bizarre," Sanjay Manjrekar noted.

"That's one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of - the T20 thinking of match ups left hand-right hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players," he added.

Washington Sundar's promotion failed

Washington Sundar came in to bat at No. 6 and that pushed Sarfaraz Khan to No. 7 and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja to No. 8. However, the move didn't work out well as Sundar was dismissed for 21.

Sarfaraz, who walked in at No. 7 was bowled by Mitchell Santner. Ravindra Jadeja gave some hope but was the last wicket to fall for well-made 42 as India were all out for 245 in pursuit of their target of 359.

Rohit Sharma has tried such tactics in T20I cricket before and it has worked as well. In the T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa, allrounder Axar Patel was sent above Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja. Axar scored a valiant 47 off 31 balls, which proved to be the difference in the end.

New Zealand toppled India for a historic series win

Meanwhile, New Zealand spinners dominated India's batters and led their team to a historic series win in the country. It is New Zealand's first-ever Test series win in India and is also the first time that India have faced a Test series defeat at home in 12 years.

India won 18 consecutive Test series at home before but their unbeaten streak was stopped by the Kiwis. India tried its best to chase down the target by trying to go with an aggressive approach but the target proved to be too much on a surface aiding spin and invariable bounce.