Meanwhile, in the second innings, he did put up some hard work in his first spell to trouble Zak Crawley with the balls nipping back in for the batter and later almost dismissed Ben Duckett on 97, but Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped his catch.

Manjrekar gave his take on who should be preferred to pair with Bumrah as the second-choice pacer, as he asserted that Prasidh Krishna has got some edge over Siraj. The Karnataka pacer claimed five wickets in total in the first Test but turned out to be a bit expensive.

(Siraj or Krishna?) This is where you’ve got to take some hard calls.

It’s easier for me because Siraj is your senior bowler. He bowled his heart out and he had one good spell at Headingley, plus he’s got a body of work, but you’ve got to look at current reality,” Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.

With only 28 wickets from his last 10 Test matches, Mohammed Siraj’s lack of consistency has placed additional pressure on Jasprit Bumrah, who continues to shoulder the bulk of India’s bowling responsibilities.

Manjrekar asserted that Krishna was more of a go-to bowler for the skipper in the second innings at Headingley, and he did claim a couple, but the coaching staff needs to make a plan to make him more economical.

“I thought towards the end of the Test match, Prasidh Krishna looked more like a go-to bowler for Shubman Gill to get wickets. So, based on that, I might go with Prasidh Krishna. Will be a hard call, but it’s just based on the current form of Mohammed Siraj compared to Prasidh Krishna and find a way for him to be a little more economical,” he added.

“Nitish Reddy in place of Shardul Thakur”

The former cricketer further suggested that India drop a frontline pacer and include Kuldeep Yadav in his place, while advocating Nitish Kumar Reddy’s inclusion in place of Shardul Thakur.

“Not play seamers just because you are in a country where seam works. So, I would drop a seamer and get Kuldeep Yadav in and Nitish Reddy in place of Shardul Thakur,” he added.