Former Team India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar who is known to be quite vocal about his opinions believes there have been certain moments where the Indian cricket team has lost momentum in the series against England till now leading them to trail 1-2.
“The run out that could have been one reason, we have one batter who is not contributing. We have one all-rounder who is not given the right position. All those could add up, and if those things get better, India could put more runs on the board,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
“Some small mistakes, I think India goes to spin as an afterthought; when nothing works, they go to spin. Had they gone earlier with Washington Sundar, there could have been perhaps a collapse,” he added.
He further said that the Shubman Gill-led Team India should have restricted England to lesser runs.
“I thought, after having England reeling the way they did in the morning session, they should have closed the game and had them out at 140 instead of allowing them to get to 190. As I said, no big blunders, but you can see where India let go of the advantage,” said the former cricketer, who has played 37 Test matches for India.
Despite making several mistakes, Manjrekar backed the young Indian side by saying `they didn`t make blunders` and he doesn`t think that mistakes were the reasons for losing the third Test match.
“The theme of the series has been that they lost the first Test, but they won a lot of hearts at the way they played. They won the second Test but lost the third, a very close contest. They made a few mistakes, but I would say they didn`t make blunders, which are obvious. Sometimes you get frustrated by those obvious mistakes. But I don`t think there were any big mistakes that cost India the game,” concluded the 60-year-old.
After trailing in the ongoing five-match Test series, Team India will lock horns against England in the fourth Test match, which is scheduled to be played in Manchester from July 23.
(With ANI Inputs)
