‘I’m going to be critical of Jadeja because this was a final-day pitch. There was rough for him to play with. And in the end… we have to expect more from Jadeja’
India’s defeat in the Leeds Test raised questions across the board — from captaincy decisions to dropped catches. But Sanjay Manjrekar wasn’t interested in excuses. The former India batter pulled no punches, singling out Ravindra Jadeja for failing to exploit the Day 5.
Speaking to Star Sports, Manjrekar said he was “disappointed” with Jadeja’s failure to exploit the rough on a surface that offered little assistance to fast bowlers.
“See, it’s not fair to be critical of younger players like Prasidh Krishna — there are obvious areas of improvement,” Manjrekar said. “But I’m going to be critical of Jadeja because this was a final-day pitch. There was rough for him to play with. And in the end… we have to expect more from Jadeja.”
Jadeja, the most experienced player in the side, ended with figures of 1/104 in 24 overs. According to Manjrekar, he didn’t use the rough consistently, especially against England centurion Ben Duckett.
“These are not typical English conditions. The pitch had something. He didn’t use the rough enough against Ben Stokes. He did, but against Duckett it was very late in the innings,” he noted. “From an experienced bowler bowling to an in-form batter, you expect more. Somewhere, I think Jadeja was disappointing.”
Manjrekar further defended the pace attack — including Bumrah, who took five wickets in the first innings but went wicketless in the second — saying the surface had gone completely flat by Day 5.
“Funnily enough, the pitch didn’t offer any lateral movement to India’s seamers. Even Bumrah couldn’t get anything — nothing in the air or off the pitch,” he said.
He also praised Duckett’s ability to neutralize India’s two main bowlers, “Ben Duckett is tremendous against Bumrah and Jadeja. I don’t think he’s ever gotten out to Jadeja. He’s played him at home as well. When you’ve got an English batter who’s so good against your frontline bowlers, you’re set for a win.”
Manjrekar’s criticism echoed that of Ravi Shastri and Nasser Hussain in commentary, who also questioned why Jadeja wasn’t bowling into the rough — with Hussain noting that no senior player, including captain Shubman Gill, intervened to course-correct.
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