Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has slammed Dean Elgar’s captaincy after the South African skipper decided to give the last over of the second day’s play to spinner Keshav Maharaj at the Wanderers Johannesburg on Tuesday.
There is enough help in the pitch for the seam bowlers and thus it was surprising to note that Elgar gave the ball to Maharaj to bowl the final over.
Manjrekar stated that Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom are under immense pressure due to their poor form, would have been delighted after noticing that Maharaj will bowl the final over. Pujara scored two boundaries in the final over as he continued to bat in an aggressive manner.
In fact, all the 22 wickets in the ongoing Test match have been taken by the fast bowlers. South Africa was able to get two crucial wickets of in-form batters KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal and Elgar shouldn’t have taken his foot off the pedal for the final over.
While reviewing Day 2 with ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar said: “Today, just watching that last session, it was just ridiculous. And It was topped up with Keshav Maharaj bowling the last over. Just as a formality. It’s like that old-fashioned thing that we do with one over to go. Let’s bowl a left-arm spinner.”
While reviewing Day 2 with ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar said: “Today, just watching that last session, it was just ridiculous. And It was topped up with Keshav Maharaj bowling the last over. Just as a formality. It’s like that old-fashioned thing that we do with one over to go. Let’s bowl a left-arm spinner.”
He added: “How does that make any sense on a pitch that has so much for seamers? Why not one more over from Lungi Ngidi? Just imagine how delighted Pujara and Rahane would’ve been to see Maharaj bowling the last over.”
On the other hand, Sanjay Manjrekar also lashed out at South Africa’s gun fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. The right-arm fast bowler hasn’t been at his best in the ongoing series and he has bowled around 130-133 kmph in the series. Manjrekar noted that Rabada has been giving a lot of driving balls to the Indian batters.
He added, “What has happened to Rabada? It’s so frustrating watching him as well. That suddenly he wants to be the Jimmy Anderson kind of a bowler. The amount of driving balls that he has given to the Indian batters in both innings, it’s been ridiculous to say the least. Although Dean Elgar didn’t give Rabada and (Duanne) Olivier too many overs with the new ball, the amount of driving balls given in the Test match by South Africa when the pitch is your greatest ally. It just baffles me.”
India has a lead of 58 runs and they would aim to score more than 250 runs.
