India Got Bowling Wrong, Under-Bowled Jadeja, Hints Sachin Tendulkar

The Indian team management may have erred on the choice of bowling combination and under-bowled left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in New Zealand's second innings in the World Test Championship (WTC

Tendulkar said that while he understood the reasoning behind making Ashwin bowl more overs (15-5-28-2) than Jadeja (7.2-2-20-1) in the first innings as there were footmarks developed by New Zealand left-arm pace bowlers and the opposition had left-handed batsmen, he called Jadeja unlucky in the second innings.

"Jadeja's strength is stump-to-stump line. He attacks stumps, so LBW and bowled chances emerge. It wasn't a pitch [on days 1, 2, 3] where there would be turn and you could get a player out in slips," said Tendulkar implying that Jadeja was unpredictable.

"In the second innings, the ball jumped a bit here and there. That is where the pitch started favouring the spinner. He was unlucky there," added Tendulkar. The only man to score 100 international centuries added that the Southampton pitch suited pace bowlers and not spinners.

"If people didn't get equal opportunity, it was because fast bowlers were getting purchase. There are pitches for spinners, there are pitches for pacers. So you have to understand the conditions," said Tendulkar.

India played two spinners and three pacers whereas New Zealand went in with four-pronged pace attack. Colin de Grandhomme, a seam-bowling all-rounder, served as the fifth bowler. India lost the WTC final by eight wickets.