Former cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar said that Indian seamer Akash Deep was trying too hard and straying away from the basics on Day 1 of the third Test against England at Lord’s. He finished wicketless with figures of 0-75, and was the most expensive bowler by a fair margin as well. He also stated that Akash Deep was looking for a wicket with each ball, instead of prioritising control.

“I think Akash Deep just was too eager, a common mistake that bowlers make. He got 10 wickets in the last match, then bowling first, where he thought there would be some movement and there was an attempt to get a wicket every ball. What he then lost in the process was control and simplicity, which was his biggest weapon, and the reason for his success in the last Test,” Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.

Manjrekar also stated that he has changed Joe Root’s nickname based on his innate ability to find runs precisely without relying on boundaries, and frustrating the opposition as well.

“I called him (Root) collector, now I am upgrading him to chief collector. If you remember Tendulkar in his last few years of his career. When he started batting he was not a collector, he was a dominator, we used to call him Master Blaster. After that he matured, became a wise guy, and started collecting runs. This is what great players do, once they get in, and Root knew that there was not going to be that kind of a Bumrah threat on this pitch, he started collecting runs,” Manjrekar said.

“Jamie Smith coming into bat, Chris Woakes will bat better on this pitch, so you cannot rule out a big score, whether Joe Root is in or out. India will be expected to get another big score with the kind of confidence that they have. The way these two teams are playing, it’s like a typical tennis match,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.