Sanjay Manjrekar picks India’s XI for the Lord’s Test; leaves out Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has picked India’s probable XI for their upcoming Test against England at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. The opening Test at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham ended in a draw after rain played spoilsport in the final day’s play. In his eleven, the current commentator didn’t pick Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja.

In Thakur’s place, he went for Hanuma Vihari due to the inconsistent run of a few batters and also because of the seam-friendly conditions in England. Vihari last played in the Sydney Test against Australia back in January and helped India save the match on the last day. The right-hander recently played in the County Championship for Warwickshire.

“I feel if Rishabh Pant comes at No. 7, he can prove even more dangerous and can play very well with the tail-enders. I am playing Vihari because in the last Test match he played, he batted for 2.5 hours to save India,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying to Sony Sports.

Ravi Ashwin was dropped wrongly in the first match: Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar reckoned the selectors made a mistake in dropping Ravi Ashwin from the previous Test. He mentioned that the off-spinner has a better chance of making breakthroughs at the Home of Cricket.

“I will like to bring in Ashwin, who I feel was dropped wrongly in the first match. I am bringing a bowler who has greater chances of taking wickets on a good pitch. I will play three seamers – Shami, Bumrah. I don’t know if Ishant is fit but I will go with Siraj because he has the capability to take five wickets,” he stated.

Jadeja bowled 16 overs in the first Test, but couldn’t pick up a wicket. However, he was decent with the bat as he scored 56 runs with eight fours and a six in India’s first innings.

The Lord’s Test is scheduled to get underway on Thursday, August 12. Headingley, Leeds and Old Trafford are the venues for the remaining three Tests on the tour. The last time India played at the Lord’s they lost by a margin of an innings and 159 runs.

Here’s Manjrekar’s XI

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj