With England's Bazbal falling flat in India, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has shared his big takeaway from the recently concluded Test series. Playing his 100th Test for India in Dharamsala, veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged a five-wicket haul in the 2nd innings as Virat Kohli-less Team India crushed England by an innings and 64 runs on Saturday.
Spin wizard Ashwin returned figures of 5-77 to make sure England folded for 195 in the 2nd innings of the 5th Test at picturesque Dharamsala. Kickstarting its innings 259 runs behind, England lost five wickets for 103 runs by Lunch. The visitors failed to topple India's mammoth 1st innings total of 477 to lose the final Test by a massive margin.
While Ashwin bagged a fifer in England's second essay, Kuldeep Yadav exposed the batting fragility of the Bazballers against spin in the 1st innings of the one-sided contest. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo about the five-match Test series, Manjrekar lauded spinner Kuldeep for making rapid strides in the longest format.
'Big takeaway for me looking at Indian cricket is…'
"The big takeaway for me looking at Indian cricket in the long-term point of view is India's bowling. The arrival of Kuldeep Yadav, and Akash Deep in that last Test match. Now, when you look at the England batting failure and relentless pressure, when you have five bowlers of the likes of Bumrah, Akash Deep in the last Test, Siraj here, and then three spinners, where Kuldeep Yadav has made such rapid strides, there's just no getaway for a team that has been struggling with consistent form," Manjrekar said.
{{/usCountry}}"The big takeaway for me looking at Indian cricket in the long-term point of view is India's bowling. The arrival of Kuldeep Yadav, and Akash Deep in that last Test match. Now, when you look at the England batting failure and relentless pressure, when you have five bowlers of the likes of Bumrah, Akash Deep in the last Test, Siraj here, and then three spinners, where Kuldeep Yadav has made such rapid strides, there's just no getaway for a team that has been struggling with consistent form," Manjrekar said.
{{/usCountry}}Extending their impressive run at home, the series triumph over England was Team India's 17th consecutive Test series win. India achieved the staggering feat in the absence of several seasoned campaigners. India missed the services of KL Rahul, while batting icon Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami were ruled out of the entire Test series. India tested its bench strength in the entire series against England at home. Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep and Rajat Patidar all made their Test debuts in the five-match series.
'India will rely on who will take baton from Kohli, Rohit'
"For me, it is still about these batters, having shown the potential to get big runs at the Test level, very keen to play at the Test level, which is a great sign. Sarfaraz as well, Dhruv Jurel, has some great foundation, so that's an exciting talent out there. But let's wait a little longer. Let these guys play in Australia, England and other places, and then we'll see who are the long-term batters that India will rely on who will take the baton from the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Cheteshwar Pujara," Manjrekar added.