Sanjay Manjrekar says ‘Shardul Thakur not same bowler we saw in Tests’, makes remark about Siraj

New Delhi: After the Test match between India and England got over, Sanjay Manjrekar, India’s ex-cricketer and commentator, said that Shardul Thakur is not effective now as he was before. He made this statement after India lost against England by 7 wickets, where Shardul Thakur went for runs and picked just 1 wicket in the match.

In the game Thakur took 1 wicket for 48 runs in the first inning, bowling at an economy of 6.85, while he went for 65 runs for no wicket at an economy of 5.90 in the second inning. Looking at this performance, Sanjay Manjrekar said, “I think Shardul Thakur is not the same bowler we saw in Test cricket, maybe 18 months back.” While talking about Mohammed Siraj’s performance, the commentator said, “I have been watching Mohammed Siraj’s evolution as a bowler. The seam-up delivery has just gone.” Siraj also got hit for many runs by the Englishmen. In the first inning, he took four wickets for 66 runs at an economy rate of 5.73, and in the second he went wicketless by conceding 98 runs in the 15 overs he bowled.

Sanjay Manjrekar is previously also seen making statements about different cricketers, be it his ‘bits and pieces’ remark for Ravindra Jadeja or his “Pollard doesn’t have brains” statement for Keiron Pollard’s change in the batting order.

In the game, India gave England a target of 378 runs, which the Englishmen chased easily. Zack Crawley and Alex Lees posted a hundred runs opening stand while Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow finished the game with their 269 runs partnership.