‘I see bowlers being shell shocked’ –  Sanjay Manjrekar dissects ‘talented’ R Ashwin’s Chennai tonne

On September 19, Day 1 of the first Test match against Bangladesh, India was reeling as the top-order of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli imploded. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a solid 56 off 118 balls, but Ravichandran Ashwin, a local teenager, gave Bangladeshi bowlers a break as he made them work hard after swimming three-fourths of the ocean.

On Day 1, Ashwin finished his sixth Test century with an unbroken 195-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja. His perfect score of 102 arrived with the greatest grace, hitting close to ninety. Former cricket player Sanjay Manjrekar called the veteran a “flag bearer of this generation” after being enthralled by his pyrotechnic performance.

Ashwin’s talent as a batter is the most significant factor. The bowlers are bowling so well—good lengths, right areas—that I can see they are shell shocked. When Ashwin enters, they continue the same action, and the ball is penalised for four. Not once, but twice, thrice, thrice over. That turns people off,” Manjrekar remarked.

“He plays the ball late, but he has such lovely hands. Among the very few flag-bearers of this generation who plays the ball late and with a lot of back foot play. We saw an amazing innings as a result of all those factors coming together,” he continued.

Jadeja has perfected his strategy: Sanjay Manjrekar

Jadeja’s flawless 86-run knock was eclipsed by the local boy’s counterattack. Manjrekar previously referred to the Saurashtra batter as a “bits and pieces cricketer.” The remarks generated a lot of discussion and led to Jadeja’s satirical posts. Manjrekar, though, declared that the southpaw had “mastered his own approach”.

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“Over the past few years, he has shown incredible consistency with the bat. He received a hundred in England in addition to India. It appears as though he has truly mastered his own style of batting when you watch him bat right now. He doesn’t even appear to be grinding; he is content to grind. This batter has figured out how to approach the ball. He is a skilled batsman,” Manjrekar said.