'He was disappointing': Sanjay Manjrekar calls out Ravindra Jadeja's tactical blunders after India's defeat in Leeds Test

Two stories emerged as the newly formed Shubman Gill-led Indian team faced England in Leeds. The impressive display of five centuries in the two innings alleviated concerns regarding the batting order, which had been labeled as 'inexperienced' following the exits of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah received sympathy for not having adequate backing from his fellow fast bowlers. Nevertheless, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar did not agree with the second narrative when evaluating the reasons for India's five-wicket defeat in Leeds.

In an interview with Star Sports after the match concluded at Headingley, where England successfully chased down 371 runs—marking their second-highest successful chase at home, four years after their record chase against India—Manjrekar declined to hold the fast bowlers accountable for the outcome, noting that the pitch offered little assistance to seamers, particularly on Day 5.

Manjrekar actually commended England opener Ben Duckett for his performance and how he managed to handle Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja on his way to a match-winning century.

"Funnily enough, the pitch didn't offer any lateral movement to India's seam bowlers. Even Bumrah couldn't get anything out of the pitch. Nothing in the air as well. Plus, the fact that Ben Duckett is tremendous against Bumrah and has one of the best records against him and against Jadeja. I don't think he's got out to Jadeja ever, and he's played Jadeja at home as well. So when you have an English batter who is very good against two of your frontline bowlers, then you're set for a win," he said.

On Day 5, Jadeja's bowling was heavily criticized by Manjrekar, who pointed out that the surface was ideal for him to exploit the rough areas and test the England batters. Given that Jadeja was the team's most seasoned player, the former Indian batter acknowledged that he was "disappointed" with his performance.

"See, it's not fair to be critical of the younger players like Prasidh Krishna. There are obvious areas of improvement, but I'm going to be critical of Jadeja because this is a final-day pitch. There's a rough for him to play with. And in the end, I know there were a couple of chances there, but we have to expect more from Jadeja. These are not typical English conditions. This is not where the pitch has nothing to offer. I thought he didn't use the rough enough against Ben Stokes. He did, but against Ben Duckett very late in the day, in the innings, he came and started using the rough from experienced bowlers, experienced batsmen, you expect more. And somewhere, I think Jadeja was disappointing because the seamers had nothing in the pitch for them. But at least Jadeja has something," he said.

The spinner took only one wicket in the final innings, giving away 104 runs across the 24 overs he bowled.

Over the years, Manjrekar and Jadeja have been part of several significant incidents, such as during the 2019 World Cup when the cricketer-turned-commentator referred to the all-rounder as a "bits and pieces" player, which prompted a sharp response from Jadeja.

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