Manjrekar advised to Shubman Gill, Ollie Pope, an England middle order batsman, made a significant change to his batting strategy in the second innings of the first test match against India in Hyderabad. Manjrekar, a cricket analyst now, emphasised Pope’s calculated action and his intentional pursuit of runs. Manjrekar thinks Shubman Gill needs to think about using a comparable tactic in his play.
Shubman Gill has been advised by former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar
NEW DELHI: Indian batsman Shubman Gill has been advised by former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar to follow Ollie Pope’s successful front-foot style. Pope, the middle-order batsman for England, made a significant change to his batting strategy in the second innings of the first Test match against India in Hyderabad. Manjrekar, who is currently a cricket pundit, emphasised Pope’s mindful drive onto the front foot and his goal of making runs.
Manjrekar thinks Gill, who is known for his skill on the front foot, need to think about using a similar tactic in his game.
This advice highlights the strategic nature of cricket, where knowledge gained from one player’s modifications can be extremely helpful to other players looking to improve. “There was one extremely significant distinction between Pope’s performance in the first and the second. He still had faith in his front-foot game, but if you watch the first few balls he faced, you’ll see that he went on the front foot with a very deliberate reaction and effort, searching for ones and twos and hoping to score. Shubman Gill, who similarly enjoys getting off to a fast start, may employ it in his batting, the former cricket player told ESPNcricinfo.
Pope was dismissed early in the first innings after scoring just one run. But in the second half of the game, he showed a different attitude, holding his own and scoring a formidable 196 runs off 278 balls with 21 boundaries. Pope’s go-to shot for strategic advantage was the reverse sweep, which reliably brought him Boundaries and forced India’s spinners to look at their strategies
In his analysis of Pope’s performance, Manjrekar pointed out that the English batsman’s over-reliance on batting on the front foot presented difficulties while facing Indian spinners. In spite of this, Pope remained consistent in his strategy and managed to carry out his intentions successfully during the game. Pope’s century in the second innings of the Hyderabad Test, according to Manjrekar, is among the greatest scores by a visiting team in Indian history. The 26-year-old’s knock was praised by him as “one of the finest hundreds that you’d see.” “At Wankhede Stadium, I witnessed English batter Kevin Pietersen score an incredible hundred runs. In Pune, I’ve witnessed people get 100 for Australia. Ollie Pope has, in my opinion, produced one of the best innings by a foreign hitter on a pitch like this in recent memory. One of the best hundreds you’ll ever watch,” declared the former middle-order batsman.
