Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar criticized Team India's new test skipper, Shubman Gill, for not going with spinners early, despite knowing that the pacers were struggling to take wickets on Day 1 of the third Test at Lord's against England. The pitch at Lord's lacked bounce and pace for the seamers to take wickets.
Gill introduced spin into the attack in the form of Ravindra Jadeja in the 48th over of the game, just before the tea break. On the other end, Washington Sundar also came from the next over.
The left-arm spinner in the first ball of the third session dismissed Ollie Pope. In the last session, 18 overs of spin were being bowled as the old ball took the seamers out of the game.
To this, Sanjay Manjrekar stated that Shubman Gill should not hesitate to bring spin into the attack, realizing pacers are not able to do so.
He said,
"I think everyone will agree that spin was introduced very late, and it's something that Shubman Gill must make a mental note of. Now, Australia, with the kind of seam attack they have, and in the past as well, during the Mitchell Johnson or Glenn McGrath days, they never kept that spinner of some quality out of the game for too long. I thought Gill went with the record of Lord's, where 89% of wickets are picked by pacers, plus what the seamers had done in the last Test."
Further, he said,
"The lesson for him was that if the seamers are proving to be ineffective because of the conditions or sometimes you can just lose form, you must never forget about the two bowlers, who may not look likely to get wickets but will get you wickets because they are pure bowlers. It is not a wild card that you are playing; they are two proper pure spinners, and you must learn to keep them around."
In the Lord's Test, Team India went with the same spinner bowling attack as at Edgbaston. Both Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar played a crucial role in winning the second Test.