Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar wasn't a fan of the under-utilization of Washington Sundar during the third day of the Manchester Test. The all-rounder had been one of the top performers for the Men in Blue at Lord's, recording figures of 4/22 in the second innings. However, he was only introduced to the attack in the second session of Day 3.
Sundar managed to take two big wickets in quick succession, sending Ollie Pope and Harry Brook back to the pavilion. But after this, he wasn't able to cause any more damage and finished the day with figures of 2/57 in 19 overs.
Manjrekar was critical of both Gambhir and Gill
Manjrekar not only criticized Gill for this tactical blunder, but also called out India head coach Gautam Gambhir for not providing the young skipper with any proper inputs.
"Can we assume that these decisions were taken solely by Shubman Gill? At this stage of his career, you'd expect him to get some inputs... or considering he has done so well as a batter, everybody has withdrawn, saying 'this guy is getting into the zone'," Manjrekar said on JioHotstar.
"Because I can't see everyone agreeing to this kind of move. Bumrah, KL Rahul, or a Gambhir thinking Washi should not be bowled... come what may," he added.
Another former India cricketer who wasn't happy with Gill not trusting his spinners more was Ravi Shastri, who pointed out that spinners like to bowl longer spells.
"I said on my first commentary stint that Gill has to trust his spinners more. Washington gave him four (second-innings) wickets in the last game. He opened things up for India in the last Test at Lord's," Shastri said on Sky Sports.
"He's confident, so give him a go. Spinners like longer spells. On a day like this you'd expect your spinner to accept responsibility, feel accountable and to go out there and do a job," he added.
With England leading by 186 runs heading into the fourth day, it remains to be seen if the Indian bowlers will be able to take rest of the wickets for cheap and restrict the hosts' lead to as low as they can.