Sanjay Manjrekar Proposes An Indian Playing XI For The Second Test Without Ravindra Jadeja

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has proposed an Indian playing XI for the second Test which doesn’t include all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. After the first Test ended in a draw at Trent Bridge, the caravan will head to Lord’s for the second match.

Team India was ahead during most stages of the game and was in a prime position to win the first Test in Nottingham. Unfortunately, they didn’t get a chance to knock off the remaining 157 runs they needed on the last day because of persistent rain which made it infeasible to get any sort of play.

During the post-match presentation, skipper Virat Kohli stated that the playing XI in the first Test is the template they intend to follow going forward. However, Sanjay Manjrekar felt otherwise. He had a couple of changes that he thought would be ideal for the Men in Blue.

For the batting line-up, he was happy to stick with the same top 5 as they didn’t get enough time out in the middle.

“Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will be my openers. At No. 3, I will want to play Pujara. We didn’t get to see a lot of his batting in the second innings but I will still want to play him. Then Virat Kohli will be No. 4, Ajinkya Rahane No. 5,” he said.

Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin were the two changes in Sanjay Manjrekar’s side

Since the middle-order suffered a stunning collapse in the first Test, Manjrekar wanted to strengthen the depth so he was keen to watch Hanuma Vihari enter the fray at the expense of Shardul Thakur.

“A slightly controversial selection because I will like to get a specialist batsman at No.6, some depth in the batting because two or three batsmen are out of form and the ball moves a little as well in England. I feel if Rishabh Pant comes at No. 7, he can prove even more dangerous and can play very well with the tail-enders. I am playing Vihari because the last Test match he played, he batted for 2.5 hours to save India,” Manjrekar suggested.

Unlike India’s four frontline pacers for the first Test, Manjrekar was happy to let Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohammad Siraj do the bulk of the work. He left out Ravindra Jadeja, however, in favour of Ravichandran Ashwin because of the wily spinner’s knack of picking up wickets almost anywhere.

“I will like to bring in Ashwin, who I feel was dropped wrongly in the first match. I am bringing a bowler who has greater chances of taking wickets on a good pitch. I will play three seamers – Shami, Bumrah. I don’t know if Ishant is fit but I will go with Siraj because he has the capability to take five wickets,” he concluded.

Both Vihari and Ashwin played county cricket before coming into this series so they would have already come to terms with the conditions at hand. It will be interesting to see India’s composition for the Lord’s Test being played from August 12-16.

Sanjay Manjrekar Picks India XI For 2nd Test:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(C), Ajinkya Rahane(VC), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

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