Ravichandran Ashwin And Ravindra Jadeja More Focused On Economy Rate Than Wickets, Asserts Sanjay Manjrekar

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar expressed his concerns over India’s bowling in the T20 World Cup. After a heavy defeat to Pakistan by 10 wickets, Indian bowlers have been under scrutiny for their inability to pick a single wicket.

India’s bowling is a big concern: Sanjay Manjrekar

Pakistan openers Babar Azam (68*) and Mohammad Rizwan (79*) outplayed India during their chase as they didn’t throw a bit of chance for their wicket and played risk-free innings.

Manjrekar said that India could have won the game had they picked regular wickets and also highlighted the concern with India’s bowling.

“The big concern for me is India’s bowling. I know there is merit in the thought that you must back your players after their failures, especially in T20s, but this is easier to do when you are playing a long season of the IPL and not when a couple of defeats mean all chances of winning the World Cup are down the drain,” Manjrekar wrote in his column for Hindustan Times.

“What was glaring about India’s defeat was how none of the bowlers looked like they would take wickets. The only way India had a chance of winning the game was by taking wickets regularly,” he further added.

Ravindra Jadeja is not someone to bowl the full quota of overs: Sanjay Manjrekar

Ravichandran Ashwin wasn’t played against Pakistan, with Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy playing as the two spinners in the team.

Manjrekar said that both Ashwin and Jadeja are not wicket-takers but have the ability to control runs.

Jadeja bowled four overs and conceded 28 runs against Pakistan. However, Manjrekar is of the opinion that Jadeja cannot be India’s main bowling option and could be used to bowl a few overs.

“Ashwin, like Jadeja, is not a wicket-taker. Both are more focused on the economy than wickets. I believe in T20s, the spinners’ job is to get wickets and be the game-changer in the middle,” Manjrekar reckoned.

“Jadeja can be your third spinner who will bowl a few overs and not someone you depend on to bowl his full quota of four overs. He has done that only a little more than 50% of the times in T20Is, and he certainly can’t be one of your five bowling options. But for that, India MUST feel that Jadeja can replace a batter in the playing XI and then be your 6th bowling option,” he added.

India will play their next match against New Zealand on October 26 in Dubai.

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