Manjrekar also reiterated his long-held stance that Ravichandran Ashwin isn’t as good a match-winner in SENA countries as he is in turning conditions, saying it still needs improvement.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers for India on Day 3 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand.
On a fairly fresh pitch, the 34-year-old bowled with masterful discipline, giving India the first breakthrough in the shape of Tom Latham and giving up just 20 runs in the process.
Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo:
Ashwin’s wicket was followed by another tedious phase of attritional bowling by the Indians. Ishant Sharma provided a second respite - Devon Conway caught at mid-on - at the business end of the day.
Ravichandran Ashwin picked up the wicket of Latham like Prasanna, Bedi used to do: Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar also observed that Ravichandran Ashwin’s dismissal of Latham was atypical of him.
Unlike in India, where Ashwin deploys turn and variations and uses close-in fielders, Manjrekar said Ashwin lured the batsman into driving the ball, a method once championed by legends like Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Singh Bedi.
Courtesy of Ashwin and Ishant’s spells, the WTC final stands piquantly poised, with New Zealand trailing by 116 runs and India requiring eight wickets before they can bat again.
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