The ex-India star in question here is Sanjay Manjrekar, who believes that even though Jadeja did well against the pacers, he struggled a lot against the spinners
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar questioned all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s ability to play against spin after he was dismissed by Australia’s Nathan Lyon on the third day of the fourth Border-Gavaskar series Test in Melbourne.
During a discussion, Manjrekar said that while Jadeja looked comfortable facing the pacers, he started to struggle once Australia skipper Pat Cummins brought Lyon into the attack.
“He played the fast bowlers a lot and played them very well. He didn’t make even a slight mistake against the fast bowlers. However, once Nathan Lyon came, he was expecting off-spin, that the ball would turn. His bat came for the off-spin and the ball was not turning at all. So he played with that mindset,” Manjrekar said.
“It seems like Jadeja needs to practice a little more against spin because he is looking absolutely comfortable against seam. He used to play very well against spin earlier but it happens that when you play overseas, you start playing fast bowling well and your focus is slightly removed from spin. If only fast bowlers had been there, Jadeja would have played a big knock,” Manjrekar added.
Jadeja has indeed struggled against Lyon and has been dismissed a total of 7 times in 16 innings in Test cricket.
