Former India cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has praised Indian batting in Manchester. He believes that the young batsmen of India proved to perform brilliantly in odd circumstances on the first day of the fourth Test cricket match against England that they do not score only against flat pitches or weak attacks. India have scored 264 runs after losing four wickets in their first innings by the end of the first day’s play.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) and KL Rahul (46) gave India a concrete start. Both of them shared a 94 -run partnership for the first wicket. After this, Sai Sudarshan (61) and Rishabh Pant (Retired Hurt for 37) shared a 72 -run partnership, which managed to reach the first day to reach 250. Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur are unbeaten by scoring 19–19 runs.
Manjrekar said on Jio Hotstar, ‘The first day of the Manchester Test was a befitting reply to those who believe that this young Indian batting order scored only against flat pitches or against weak attack. Such situations are usually found in England and their bowling attack also looked stronger than before. Ben Stokes again overs over, while Liam Dawson bowled better with Shoaib Bashir. Jofra Archer was strengthening his bowling.
Manjrekar said, ‘India has another solid batting performance in these circumstances to score 264 for four on the first day. Thankfully, Rishabh Pant stayed for some time before being retired. Hopefully he will return to bat the second day. Playing his second Test, Sudarshan, after not playing in the second and third match of the series, returned to the final XI and scored his first half -century.
Manjrekar said, ‘He looked nervous in the beginning, which is natural after being dropped from the team after the first Test. This may affect confidence, but as the game progressed, his confidence also increased and he batted brilliantly.
