Kuldeep Yadav deserved to grab headlines in both ODIs against Australia: Sanjay Manjrekar

The just-concluded ODI series between the Windies and England saw how supreme batsmen reign in international cricket nowadays. While two matches saw totals over 360 scored by both sides, the final game was virtually turned into a T20 affair as the Caribbeans won it in less than 15 overs. However, in another hemisphere of the earth, it was the bowlers who were dominating another ODI series.

On Tuesday, India’s bowlers did exceedingly well to restrict Australia to 242 after their batters were dismissed for 250, winning the game by 8 runs to see their side going 2-0 up in the five-match series. Both the games played so far in the series saw an even battle between the bat and the ball with 250 being the highest team score so far. Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar did not lose sight of the bowlers’ credit and expressed his displeasure over the fact that it is always the batsmen who steal the limelight.

The former cricketer posted a few tweets on Wednesday saying how the batsmen were being given credit for India’s back-to-back wins in the ODI series so far. While it was the 141-run partnership between MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav which was eulogised for the first win in Hyderabad, the 81-run partnership between captain Virat Kohli and Vijay Shankar in Nagpur won most accolades for the win.

Kuldeep took 3 crucial wickets to check Australia’s chase

According to the 53-year-old, it was Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav who played a central role behind India’s success in both games. Kuldeep took 3 wickets for 54 runs in Nagpur and his three scalps included: Australia captain Aaron Finch (37), the in-form Glenn Maxwell (4) and wicket-keeper-batsman Alex Carey (22).

In the first match, Kuldeep claimed the wickets of half-centurion Usman Khawaja and batsman Peter Handscomb to finish with 2 for 46 and peg the visitors back. India won that game by 6 wickets. However, Kuldeep didn’t win the Man of the Match award in either of the two games. “Kuldeep should have grabbed headlines in both games,” Manjrekar said in one of his tweets.

Here are Manjrekar’s tweets

How easily we give batsmen all the credit. That India is 2-0 up is thanks more to the bowlers than the batsmen. #AUSvIND

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 6, 2019

50 overs format is so heavily loaded in favour of batsmen. The imbalance exists even before the game begins. It pains me when bowlers are not given their due. Kuldeep should have grabbed headlines in both games. But it was more Kedar, Dhoni last game & now Virat, Shankar.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 6, 2019

Australia were on the course of a win but for the death-bowling expert Jasprit Bumrah who gave two runs in his final two overs and also picked two wickets. And then Vijay Shankar, one of the heroes with the bat, kept his calm and chipped in with two wickets in the final over to stop the visitors eight runs short of the target.

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