File photo of Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir© AFP
As India’s tour of Australia concludes with a 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, pundits and fans have busy analysing the team’s performances and chart out the factors that led to the dismal show Down Under. One of the biggest reasons behind India’s series defeat, according to former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, was team selection. Manjrekar doesn’t feel an all-rounder like Washington Sundar warranted a place in the playing XI. With Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy also part of the XI as all-rounders Manjrekar doesn’t think head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma got their selection calls right.
“It’s crazy when you think of an important place in that Indian Test XI in a marquee series. Barring that fifty, Washington Sundar hasn’t contributed with the bat much. I think he’s a highly talented bowler. But, he has a place when the pitch is turning overseas. And with Jadeja already there, Nitish Kumar Reddy as well, plus Washington Sundar as well. I thought his selection was a blunder on a pitch like this,” Manjrekar said in a chat on ESPNCricinfo.
Gavaskar also drew comparisons between India’s current Test squad and the last two which returned triumphant from Australia. In comparison to Gambhir and Rohit’s side, Manjrekar feels the selection on the last two tours was done on the basis of players’ primary skills and not what they could offer secondarily.
“The last two tours to Australia, India didn’t have a single player who was played because of his second skill. They always focused on his main skill and that was good enough to get him into the side. The other skill was a bonus. Here, I thought India went the England way, when England was not winning,” he further added.
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