Sanjay Manjrekar thinks India should move on from KL Rahul

[SecondSlip]

Quote

 

Team India was handed a big blow as the young opener Prithvi Shaw was ruled out of the Test series. The current duo KL Rahul and Murali Vijay aren't helping the team with their performances. Out of four innings, they never looked good enough to provide support to Indian middle order. 

 

Rahul and Vijay aren't productive enough and Sanjay Manjrekar believes India should try Hanuma Vihari at the top order. The commentator is unimpressed with Rahul and his words suggest he wouldn't like India to continue with him. 

India has called Mayank Agarwal as a replacement for Prithvi Shaw. Manjrekar believes the pair of Agarwal and Vijay is good enough if they are not going to take a risk by playing Vihari in top order. 

 

"These are Australian conditions. Hanuma Vihari, when you see him bat, you get an impression that this is a guy, who has a good technique. His scoring shots are straight in front of the wicket and he seems calm temperamentally. He is clearly a batsman who has the game to bat at (number) 1, 2 and 3. So the sense is there having Vihari bat at the top of the order," Manjrekar was quoted as saying by PTI.

 

The former India cricketer doesn't want to judge Mayank if he gets a chance to play and fails, because conditions would be new and tough for him.

 

"Even if you play Mayank Agarwal, we should not have high expectations because it is extremely tough for an Indian batsman to straightaway go into a Test match on an Australian pitch, especially at the top of the order, where the Kookaburra ball does a lot," Manjrekar said

 

"So if India does not want to take that risk and put undue pressure on Agarwal, then Vihari is an option (to open the innings). But I will personally still go with Mayank Agarwal and Murali Vijay," he added. 

 

The third Test will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26.

 

https://circleofcricket.com/category/AUS_v_IND_2018-19/30924/aus-v-ind-2018-19-sanjay-manjrekar-thinks-india-should-move-on-from-kl-rahul

[ShoonyaSifar]

Now that Manjrekar has blessed Rahul, he will start scoring runs now. Kohli did the same in 2012 when Manjrekar said Give him one more test to prove he doesn’t belong to test level. Kohli scored a 75 and hasn’t looked back.

[Temujin Khaghan]

That awkward moment when Sanju agrees with your viewpoint that vihari should open. :/

[nevada]

If specialist openers themselves couldn't cut it then why do people think Vihari can succeed? At best he might make solid 30-40 like Akash Chopra. And then he will be conveniently dumped similarly when the next home series comes along.

[puneet28]

And in his playing XI he chooses Rohit Sharma at number 6. This Mumbai bias never goes away. 

[bowl_out]

10 hours ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

Now that Manjrekar has blessed Rahul, he will start scoring runs now. Kohli did the same in 2012 when Manjrekar said Give him one more test to prove he doesn’t belong to test level. Kohli scored a 75 and hasn’t looked back.

My exact thoughts when I read the title

[Real McCoy]

Expecting Rahul to score a blistering 200 to put Manju in his place. Manju can be used as an anti-jinx and reverse motivational tool. Batsmen should be like "If a **** insecure batsmen like Manju is criticizing me, I should definitely prove him wrong and throw eggs at his constipated face". Rahul should eat some spinach and become popeye.

[Suhaan]

Him as well