File photo of Virat Kohli (left) with Washington Sundar.
With the pressure piling up on Virat Kohli after leading India in four back-to-back losses in Test matches, the Indian skipper is now getting blamed of decision-making blunders during matches. And former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar felt that Kohli's tactical decisions and team selection were spot-on during the recently-lost first Test to England but he was far from impressed with the 32-year-old captain's overall strategies.
"I wouldn't say India had bad tactics or they blundered on tactics. Team selection I think was fair. People are talking about Kuldeep Yadav now because Shahbaz Nadeem hasn't bowled well. This was a tailor-made pitch for him," Manjrekar told Espncricinfo.
The former Mumbai batsman pointed out an instance where he found spinner Washington Sundar, who had a lacklustre outing with the ball during the match, bowling the wrong line.
"Tactically, the small parts of the game where Washington Sundar I think bowled the wrong line to begin with. He is a great guy to bowl outside off stump and when he did that, it troubled the opposition batsmen. That's where Virat Kohli is a little hard to understand, with his overall strategy and team selection," he said.
Manjrekar felt England looked far more prepared for the game despite being the visiting side.
"His first few overs (Nadeem), he had two people on the drive. Maybe the bowlers weren't allowed to begin with to bowl to the field that he wanted.
"But more than tactics, India's ability in this match fell short and they would want to make amends in the second Test. Tactically, England were superior but I won't say that India blundered tactically," Manjrekar added.
