The former Indian cricketer team Sanjay Manjrekar doubts Rohit’s captaincy after the first test against South Africa in Centurion.
Sanjay Manjrekar on Rohit Sharma’s captaincy
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was not happy with Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the first Test on India’s South Africa tour in 2023. India suffered a heavy defeat in the first test against Proteas Men on the third day of the first test.
Manjrekar pointed out the openings in the skipper’s decision to use Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna straight after lunch on Day 03. He called it a blunder mistake and said that it was not “one of Rohit’s best days.”
“I think there was a certain amount of underestimation of the South African batting after India got 245. But yes, it wasn’t one of Rohit Sharma’s best days or Test matches as captain.”
“That was a blunder (starting with Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna after Lunch). These are the moments that you have to cash in. That was a huge mistake,” said Manjrekar.
“Plus, the bowling plans as well, not just the bowling changes. I was just amazed by what the Indian bowlers kept trying almost throughout the Test match.”
“You had an instance of Marco Jansen getting the outside edge and the ball just falling short of KL Rahul. After that, there were a couple of deliveries in that same region, and then there was the bouncer, and then there was a full-length delivery, and then something going down the leg side.”
“That was unexpected and that is somewhere where the captain could come in and say,’ Guys, time running now, let’s stick to discipline,'” Manjrekar added.
Winning the toss, South Africa chose to bowl where they had early dismissals and stunned the Indian side. Rohit was sent out by Rabada for 5 runs while Nandre Burger dismissed Shubman Gill and Jaiswal for two and 17 runs.
Virat Kohli had 38 runs before his dismissal by Rabada. At the moment, KL Rahul shined to smash a century on 137 deliveries. Other wickets were dismissed at regular intervals. With the dismissal of KL Rahul for 101, India concluded their innings for 245 runs.
After starting their innings, South African players Dean Elgar and David Bedingham joined forces after the dismissal of Aiden Markram, Tony, and Petersen. On the second day of the innings where Dean Elgar scored a century and overshadowed KL Rahul’s ton.
They completed the day with a score of 218 runs for 3 wickets. After resuming their innings Dean Elgar continued to bat and scored 185 runs before being dismissed by Thakur. South Africa’s Dean Elgar was exceptionally impressive as he helped the side to score 408 runs.
After starting the second innings, India was folded for 131 runs in the second innings and lost the match.
Despite losing their first test, India will be playing their second test against Proteas men starting on January 03, 2024, at Newlands Cricket Ground.
