On Day 5 of the third Test in the ongoing five-match series between England and India, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar praised Jasprit Bumrah as the “real star” of the ninth-wicket combination with Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja and Bumrah scored 35 runs off 132 deliveries during their stint in the middle.
While Manjrekar praised Jadeja’s batting style, he felt Jadeja did not consistently demonstrate risk-taking characteristics. The former Indian cricketer, on the other hand, praised Bumrah’s tenacity in the middle of the pitch against some high-quality fast bowling.
“Ravindra Jadeja was batting effectively and defending courageously, but it never appeared that he was taking the risks necessary to help India win. He was playing the waiting game, hoping against hope. The true star of that duo, however, was Jasprit Bumrah. He stayed out there for an hour and 40 minutes against high-quality quick bowling and bouncers, and it was incredible to watch how his net sessions with the bat paid off,” Manjrekar said on JioHotstar’s ‘Follow The Blues’.
The chase looked beyond reach: Sanjay Manjrekar
Despite pointing out Jadeja’s overly-measured mindset with the bat, Manjrekar was impressed with how he stuck in and kept one side of the batting end intact with his presence.
“It’s heartening to see how much Jadeja trusts his defence these days. He plays long innings now, patient and with time on his side. The 70 runs he scored in the first innings were not a quickfire 70 — he batted for four hours. And on this pitch, scoring 50 felt like batting for 50 hours.
But if you look at that moment when Jadeja brought up his half-century, the visuals from the Lord’s balcony did not look too positive. The energy from the dressing room said it all, it felt like the team knew that winning would be very difficult. Jadeja was trying, no doubt, but given the pitch, the conditions, and India’s scoring rate, the chase looked beyond reach,” he added.
India required 135 runs on the final day with six wickets in hand. Despite the required rate coming down below one per over from when the post-Lunch session got underway, it was always going to be an uphill task for the visitors. They lost by 22 runs after heroic efforts with the bat from Jadeja, Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
India
