In the match against Pakistan, India used specialist spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy, but neither was able to pick wickets.
Follow Us
Former Indian cricketer and current commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has urged India’s spinners to be more aggressive in their approach and look to take wickets rather than worry about the economy rate in their upcoming games at the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates. In their opening loss to Pakistan, India used specialist spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy, but neither was able to pick up any wickets or slow down the scoring during the run chase.
India has two more spinners to choose from in Ravichandran Ashwin and Rahul Chahar, but neither is likely to play on Sunday when India takes on New Zealand in a must-win match in Dubai on October 31. If the team management decides to make a change, Chakravarthy may be replaced by Ashwin, but Manjrekar believes India’s bowling will remain a concern until the spinners start thinking about wickets.
“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.
Indian bowlers failed to make a breakthrough against Pakistan, and the team was defeated by a 10-wicket margin in T20Is for the first time. It was also India’s first World Cup defeat against Pakistan.
“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. 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,” Manjrekar wrote in his column for Indian newspaper Hindustan Times.
Manjrekar went on to mention that India should view Jadeja as an all-rounder capable of bowling a few overs for the team but not the full quota of four overs. “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,” Manjrekar penned.
“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.
