Sanjay Manjrekar lauded left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for dismissing England opener Zak Crawley during England’s run chase in the second Test as India won the game by 106 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.
The former India cricketer pointed out that Crawley was looking extremely dangerous, having scored 73 runs off 132 balls, including one six and eight boundaries. Yadav trapped him leg before wicket on the stroke of Lunch on Day 4. Overall, he finished with four wickets on his return to Test cricket.
Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo:
“Crawley’s wicket was the turning point. If you looked at the faces of all the Indian players, they were tensed when Crawley was batting in the way he was. This is one team that I’ve seen in a long long time that is getting under the skin of the Indian team in a home series.”
Meanwhile, England captain Ben Stokes believed that the DRS technology was wrong regarding Crawley’s dismissal. Speaking to reporters at the post-match press conference, he was quoted as saying by India Today:
“My personal opinion is that the technology has gone wrong on this occasion. That’s where I stand on it. Technology in the game is obviously there and everyone has an understanding of the reasons it can never be 100 percent.”
Stokes added:
“That’s why wahave the ‘umpire’s call’, that’s why it’s in place. So when it’s not 100 percent, I don’t think it’s unfair for someone to say ‘I think the technology has got it wrong.’”
“Kuldeep Yadav coming in has made it a little bit easier to control the English batters” – Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar, meanwhile, pointed out how Kuldeep Yadav controlled the flow of runs against England in the second Test by bowling a lot slower in the air, particularly against Ollie Pope. This was something that the hosts lacked in the first Test in Hyderabad, where they lost by 28 runs. He said:
“Kuldeep Yadav coming in has made it a little bit easier to control the English batters because he’s a bit slow in the air. I saw a couple of reverse sweeps that were played within that straight to the fielder.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator added:
“When somebody is not giving you pace, you saw the trajectory is not as flat just becomes a little bit more difficult.”
The two teams will next lock horns at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot during the third Test, which starts on February 15.
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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava