Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar believes that Ajinkya Rahane may not be able to perform like his first two years in Test cricket but he is still the best fit for India’s number 5th position in Test cricket over KL Rahul.
Manjrekar believes that KL Rahul has done well in limited-overs cricket. But it cannot be considered as a criterion to replace Rahane in test cricket format.
Sanjay Manjrekar was doing a #AskSanjay session on Twitter in which he asked fans to ask him. During this, a fan asked about considering KL Rahul at No. 5 in test cricket on the place of Ajinkya Rahane as Rahane’s form is gradually decreasing. He asked,
“Considering the dip in Rahane’s form in Test cricket (typically overseas), does it make sense for Team India to try out KL Rahul at No. 5? He surely has the technique as well as the temperament, doesn’t he? #AskSanjay”
Considering the dip in Rahane's form in Test cricket (typically overseas), does it make sense for Team India to try out KL Rahul at No. 5? He surely has the technique as well as the temperament, doesn't he? #AskSanjay
— Sparsh Telang (@_cricketsparsh) June 13, 2020
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On this Sanjay Manjrekar prefer Ajnkiya Rahane over KL Rahul. Sanjay Manjrekar on his Youtube video answering to this question said,
“It’s too soon. Ajinkya Rahane had a pretty good couple of years at the test level and KL Rahul has been brilliant at number five.”
“Yes granted, Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t look the same he was in the first two years of his Test career and I would like to see that kind of form coming back. It comes in little sparse, sometimes, but not as consistently as he would like. But based on his runs that he has got, I don’t think it is right to think of Rahul at number five in Test matches.”
KL Rahul need a truckload of runs at Domestic Cricket
Sanjay Manjrekar also says that Rahul is impressive in the shorter format of cricket. He needs to score a lot of runs in domestic cricket like Mayank Aggarwal to get into the test team.
“The last time he (Rahul) played Test cricket, he wasn’t that impressive and let’s not get too carried away with a batsman getting runs in T20 and 50 overs cricket and push into Test match cricket.”
“So, (for) KL Rahul to nudge the Indian batsman at the test level in the middle-order, he will have to get a truckload of runs at the domestic level, just like (Mayank) Agarwal did to get in the Indian team,”
Talkin about the statistics of both the players in Test, KL Rahul has played 36 matches. With an average of 34.60, he has scored just 2006 runs. On the other hand, Rahane has scored 4203 runs with an average of 42.90 in 65 matches.
You can watch the whole video of Sanjay Manjrekar here:
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