Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer (BCCI photo)
New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar criticized India’s approach after the team suffered a 0-4 defeat in the T20I series against England, saying sacking head coach Gautam Gambhir, captain Shreyas Iyer or a few players would be the “easy thing to do” but would not solve the real problem.India endured a miserable outing, losing the five-match series 0-4 after the opener. The defeat came on the back of a 0-2 series loss to Ireland, meaning the T20 World Cup champions failed to win a single match in the two overseas assignments.
Speaking in a video posted on Instagram, Manjrekar said changing the coach, captain or players will not address the root cause of India’s struggles.“The easiest thing to do for India is to sack Gautam Gambhir, sack the captain, sack some players who did not perform well in Ireland and England. That would be the easy thing to do,” Manjrekar said.Shreyas Iyer, who took over the T20I captaincy from
Suryakumar Yadav After winning the World Cup, India endured a difficult start. Under his captaincy, India lost six out of seven T20Is, while one match was called off due to rain.The heavy defeat also saw India lose the top spot in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings to England.
According to Manjrekar, India’s poor performance was mainly due to the team being unprepared for the external conditions.“The right thing to do is to identify the main reason for India’s setback. The main reason is that the T20 matches were played. Ireland and England. External circumstances,” he said.It is believed that the players were selected mainly on the basis of their performances in the Indian Premier League.“Our players and our team were not well prepared for these conditions.
Why? He pointed out that the selectors have already selected all these players based on their performances in the IPL.Manjrekar criticized the poor batting conditions in the Indian Premier League, saying it makes it difficult to judge players’ ability in difficult conditions.“The Indian Premier League (IPL) puts a very heavy makeup on Indian batsmen, all batsmen. The batting conditions in the IPL are the easiest I have ever seen. That’s why it’s tempting to bluff.”
That’s why you see a lot of hitters at the top of the order doing the crazy things they do.”He added that performance in the Indian Premier League does not always translate to success abroad.
“So you don’t really know which bowler is going to do well when there’s something going on for the bowlers. And it’s not as easy as batting on a marble slab like in the IPL. That’s where the selectors have to be smart and pick people like Shubham Gill, who will succeed in Ireland, England and everywhere as a T20 batsman,” Manjrekar said.Manjrekar concluded by saying that the focus should instead be on those responsible for creating conducive conditions for batting in the IPL.“Dig deeper and actually sack those guys who advised the BCCI that (batting-friendly conditions) make the IPL more popular and more commercially viable. Let’s get more fours and sixes. Let’s get 100-plus hits,” he said.
