Everything was going well for India until the disastrous run-out of Yashasvi Jaiswal came into the picture. Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal had already built a partnership of over 100 runs at the MCG, but due to a miscommunication between the two during the Scott Boland over, the Southpaw gave away a free wicket to the Australian team in India’s first innings.
As expected, many former Indian players started debating whose mistake it was. Just after the stumps on Day 2, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar blamed Kohli for the setback, as he believed it was entirely Kohli’s responsibility to guide Jaiswal back to the crease, since there was no run. Surprisingly, Virat started looking at the ball and the fielder, which allowed Jaiswal to reach the other end, with Kohli still deep in his crease.
Even an unimpressive throw by Pat Cummins, and Alex Carey behind the stumps, was enough to run Jaiswal out.
On the other side of the debate, Irfan Pathan believed that there was no run and that it was Jaiswal’s fault for the mix-up, as he should have been aware there was no run available.
Sanjay Manjrekar vs Irfan Pathan
Speaking on Star Sports post-Day 2, Manjrekar said that the mistake was on Kohli’s side and described it as a schoolboy error. “The moment Yashasvi called for a run, Virat didn’t show interest and started looking away. This is not the right way, as Jaiswal would have been in danger since it was his call. I don’t know why Virat, despite hearing Jaiswal, turned his back. It seems he was not interested in the single and wanted to take strike in the next over. Both batters were keen on facing the first ball of the next over and Virat made a mistake and was then trying to justify himself by saying that he was looking back”
Just to counter this, Irfan Pathan said there was no chance of a run. “While it might seem from the outside that only one player was at fault, it was also the striker’s responsibility, since the run was not available. If you look closely, the fact that Cummins threw the ball with such ease shows he knew the run wasn’t available. In this scenario, if both batters had run, there would surely have been a run-out”
And to end all of this, Yashasvi made 82 runs from 118 balls in the 4th Test’s first innings at the MCG. On the other hand, Virat was dismissed for 36 runs off 86 balls after a short stay at the crease.