'They will have to bat very well to make this match exciting' - Sanjay Manjrekar positive of India's comeback in ongoing WTC Final

The first day of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final saw Australia stamp their dominance against the first year’s Runners up, India. The Indian team won the toss and elected to bowl first which eventually seemed to have backfired on them with Australia ending the day at 327/3 courtesy of some brilliant batting display from Travis Head (146*) and Steve Smith (95*). 

However, former India player Sanjay Manjrekar feels that on Day 2, India will need to bowl patiently. On this ground, runs can be scored rapidly if there is a partnership abd India must put a stop to that. Ravindra Jadeja and the other bowlers would have to work in tandem to keep things tight if the partnership persists.

The former batter also apprehends that if India can restrict Australia to under 400 runs then they would certainly sneak in with some chance to make a comeback in the match, but for that to happen, the Indian batting department would also have to do well on this surface. 

“If India are able to bowl out Australia for under 400, it would be a very good comeback. India will have to bat very well in the first innings to make this match exciting. No edge carried to slip on Day 1, so this pitch might be favoring batters a lot more. We could entertain the thought that India too might be able to bat well on this surface. There will be pressure, but India can also put up a big score on this pitch,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

The timing of the tactics was not quite right: Manjrekar

 The former Indian batter also pointed out the fact that India's tactics with the ball were not quite up to the mark and also the plan of bowling short-pitch stuff to the Australian batter came in way late. 

 “In the first session, the ball was swinging and there as a lot of playing and missing. If batters are playing and missing, that means the bowlers are bowling shorter. Had they bowled a fuller line, things might have been different. In the second session, [Mohammed] Shami bowled it up to the batter and dismissed [Marnus] Labuschagne. The bouncer was used more in the second session and less in the first, but by then the batters were set. The timing of the tactics was not quite right,” Manjrekar concluded.