Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said he did not align with the Indian team management’s thoughts around the batting order despite their comeback win against England at Edgbaston, levelling the series 1-1 ahead of Thursday’s third Test at Lord’s.
After suffering a defeat in a grinding Headingley Test, India opted for a horde of changes, with 33-year-old Karun Nair moving up to the number three spot after playing at 6 in his comeback Test after eight years in Leeds. Nair replaced Sai Sudharsan, who was benched for the inclusion of his Tamil Nadu statemate and all-rounder, Washington Sundar, who took a lower-order spot at No. 8. Manjrekar, however, was not a fan of the move as he observed how the current management helmed by head coach Gautam Gambhir isn’t keen on a stable and consistent XI.
“There were some very interesting selections made in the last game, which I didn’t agree with. In the end, a win can put a cover on those decisions. I thought Sai Sudharsan, after just one match, to be left out considering he is a young player that we are looking at the future. He played pretty okay in the second innings. I’d like to stick with him but this team management is not afraid to chop and change depending on the vibe,” he said on ESPN Cricinfo.
On his Test debut, the left-handed Sudharsan was dismissed for a duck in his first innings before returning 30 in his second essay. Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Nair has struggled to make a strong impression thus far, scoring 0, 20, 31 and 26 in four innings.
“But I would like to see Sai Sudharsan at number three. Karun Nair is not a number-three player in my book. It is unfair to drop him after one Test if everyone is getting big hundreds. I think Sai deserves that opportunity as well,” Manjrekar added.
Word of caution
Manjrekar also added that India can ill-afford to be complacent after two solid performances with the bat in the last two Test. No team has recorded more runs in the first two Tests of a series than India have this series, but Manjrekar reckoned that captain Shubman Gill’s scores were crucial for the position India currently find themselves in.
The 25-year-old Gill smashed a heap of records with three centuries in four innnings, including a 147 in his first innings as captain at Headingley. Gill then became the first batter to record a 250 (269) and 150-plus (161) score in the same Test in history last week.
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“I’d like to see India being pragmatic and realistic about how good the team is. They’ve got to still be careful about their batting. Shubman Gill got these big hundreds and made sure that India could win the Test match. I’m just imagining him getting 103 and 104, and it would have been tough to win the Test. He has taken care of a lot of those issues. India need to make sure that the batting is in place. Perhaps a changed England attack will have more sharpness and potency,” Manjrekar added.
