Ravindra Jadeja vs Sanjay Manjrekar 2.0 erupts after India’s defeat in Leeds Test

Former India National Cricket Team player Sanjay Manjrekar has lashed out at the veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja following India's loss to England in the Test series opener.

Sanjay Manjrekar reckoned that Ravindra Jadeja didn't use the pitch very well to his advantage on Day 5 of the Test match at Headingley in Leeds.

Ravindra Jadeja flops in the first Test against England

Jadeja was picked as the sole spin-bowling all-rounder in the India playing XI in the first Test of the five-match series against the England National Cricket Team.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

He looked decent with the ball in the first innings and held one end nicely when the skipper, Shubman Gill, felt the need to rotate his seamers from the other end.

Jadeja bowled 23 overs in the first innings and conceded 68 runs at an economy of 2.95 while going wicketless. Although he didn't pick wickets, he did his job very well in controlling the scoring rate.

However, in the second innings, there was some help for the spinners on the surface, and Jadeja was not able to utilise it to the full extent.

England batters were able to attack Ravindra Jadeja with the reverse sweeps, and he ended up with the bowling figures of 24-1-104-1 in the second innings as he conceded runs at an economy of 4.33.

With the bat, Ravindra Jadeja, with his score of 11, was part of India's batting collapse in the first innings, and in the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 25 runs.

I don't think he's got out to Jadeja ever - Sanjay Manjrekar on Ravindra Jadeja

Speaking to Star Sports after the end of the match, Sanjay Manjrekar didn't put the blame on the Indian pacers for the loss because they got no assistance from the pitch and lauded Ben Duckett for batting brilliantly against Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah.

"Funnily enough, the pitch didn't offer any lateral movement to India's seam bowlers. Even Bumrah couldn't get anything out of the pitch. Nothing in the air as well.

"Plus, the fact that Ben Duckett is tremendous against Bumrah and has one of the best records against him and against Jadeja. I don't think he's got out to Jadeja ever, and he's played Jadeja at home as well. So when you have an English batter who is very good against two of your frontline bowlers, then you're set for a win," he said.

I think Jadeja was disappointing - Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar further slammed Ravindra Jadeja for his inability to use the rough patch of the pitch on Day 5 and labelled his performance as disappointing.

"See, it's not fair to be critical of the younger players like Prasidh Krishna. There are obvious areas of improvement, but I'm going to be critical of Jadeja because this is a final-day pitch. There's a rough for him to play with. And in the end, I know there were a couple of chances there, but we have to expect more from Jadeja. These are not typical English conditions.

"This is not where the pitch has nothing to offer. I thought he didn't use the rough enough against Ben Stokes. He did, but against Ben Duckett very late in the day, in the innings, he came and started using the rough from experienced bowlers, experienced batsmen, you expect more. And somewhere, I think Jadeja was disappointing because the seamers had nothing in the pitch for them. But at least Jadeja has something," Sanjay Manjrekar said.

Manjrekar and Jadeja have been involved in quite a few notable incidents over the years, as during the 2019 World Cup, the cricketer-turned-commentator labeled the all-rounder as a "bits and pieces" player before receiving a thrashing reply from Jadeja.

In the recent past, things have been good between the two, and in one of his social media posts, Sanjay Manjrekar called Jadeja his favorite cricketer.

Also Read: Shubman Gill, Gautam Gambhir ruthlessly target Rishabh Pant despite twin tons after loss in Leeds Test