The former top-order batter of the Indian side, Sanjay Manjrekar, before the start of the fourth Test in the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, claimed that Indi should look to drop their debutant all-rounder of the series, Nitish Kumar Reddy, for the proper balance of the team.
Sanjay Manjrekar wasn’t impressed with the touring side choosing the bowling all-rounders Nitish and Washington Sundar over the specialist batter, Shubman Gill. However, he addressed that the gamble has paid well for the side, as both of them put a record stand to bail the Rohit Sharma-led side out of trouble in the first innings with the bat.
Reddy celebrated his maiden Test century, while Sundar smashed 50 runs in 162 deliveries. Gill was dropped from the Indian side as Rohit promoted himself to open the innings, with KL Rahul being dropped at the number three position. None of the specialist batters, apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal, could make a mark in both innings of the Boxing Day Test, as India failed to survive 92 overs in the fourth innings to accept defeat by 184 runs.
Sanjay Manjrekar is not convinced with India’s pace attack to trouble Australia
Reddy is currently the third leading run-getter of the series with 294 runs in seven innings at an average of 49 and a strike rate of 66.51 with the help of his 114-run knock in the previous game. He hasn’t done much with the ball but his contribution with the bat has pushed India on many occasions in the series.
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“You tried to address the batting uncertainties by getting a bowler who can bat. Nitish Kumar Reddy, in the side at the expense of Shubman Gill. So, they left out a proper batter, and in hindsight, you’d think on a pitch like this, the flattest pitch on all five days so far in the series, Shubman Gill would have been handy.” Sanjay Manjrekar expressed during a discussion on ESPNcricinfo.
However, the Mysore-born claimed that none of these two would ever be able to fill the absence of Shubman Gill, who finishes the year as the second-leading run-getter for India in the longest format with 866 runs in 22 innings at an average of 43.30 and a strike rate of 62 with the help of two centuries and four half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 119 runs.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy did well, and thankfully that helped matters. But it’s an approach that never works where Washington Sundar in the end was playing as a batter, and he’s never going to be as good as a top-order batter like Shubman Gill.” Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted.
The renowned commentator also pointed out the difference between the premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, and others, including Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep, and felt that it hadn’t looked adequate to put Australia in a challenging mode.
“There is a huge difference between Bumrah and the rest. Siraj, despite him being around and he’s a fine bowler, there’s still a big distance between Siraj and Bumrah. Plus, when you look at Mitchell Starc and Siraj, Akash Deep, and Scott Boland, overall, the (Australian) seam attack is looking a lot better.” Sanjay Manjrekar added.
“Nathan Lyon as a spinner in these conditions is better than Washington and Ravindra Jadeja. So India will go into the final Test match knowing that their bowling attack is not adequate.” The former batter concluded.