'He came back into ODI plans, India paid a price for that': Manjrekar slams senior player, says 'he did nothing much'

Sanjay Manjrekar, while analysing India's performance in the ODI series against South Africa, named one senior player who was extremely unimpressive.

Sanjay Manjrekar has come down hard on R Ashwin once again. The former India batter has often been critical of Ashwin's performances in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia), and following India's dismal tour of South Africa, he shared his thoughts on the senior off-spinner's output.

'He came back into ODI plans, India paid a price for that': Sanjay Manjrekar slams senior plays R Ashwin, says 'he did nothing much' (AGENCY/HT COLLAGE)

R Ashwin returned into the 50-over side after a whopping five years against the Proteas but failed to make any impact in the first two games of the series at Paarl. In the first match, he registered figures of 1/53 and scored 7 runs with the bat. In the next match, he returned wicketless and gave away 68 runs in his spell. With the bat, he scored an unbeaten 25. Skipper KL Rahul then dropped him for the final game as he made four changes with hopes of avoiding a whitewash.

Manjrekar, while speaking to ESPNCricinfo following India's four-run loss in the final ODI, stated that Ashwin's place hurt the team.

“Ashwin strangely came back into India’s ODI plans for some reason. India paid a price for that. He played the two crucial games, did nothing much. (Yuzvendra) Chahal also under the scanner. Prasidh Krishna needs to be backed a bit more. Also, in 50-overs, Mohammed Shami can be a good option.

“Bowling wise, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had given signs even before this series that he is finding it difficult to get back to his best. I guess that issue is closed after seeing his performance in the series. And Deepak Chahar, the one ball to get Janneman Malan, should tell selectors that he is a better option," he elaborated

And finally, talking about the series loss and the tour of South Africa in general, Manjrekar termed it as "a bad loss".

“The way the match ended sums up the whole trip for India. It has to be one of the poorest Indian tours to South Africa. That’s how it was destined to be. It just wasn’t India’s time in South Africa. It is a bad loss," he concluded.