Ex Indian cricket player Sanjay Manjrekar picked Rajat Patidar and Kuldeep Yadav to take the places of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja for India’s cricket team in the next Test versus England. This game will start on Friday in Vizag.
Manjrekar feels Patidar should play ahead of Sarfaraz Khan since he was part of India’s maiden Test team. He also stated that Kuldeep Yadav will be a like-for-like replacement in the spin department and highlighted the advantages of playing the left-arm wrist spinner.
Manjrekar informed ESPNCricinfo:
“Rajat Patidar because he’s the one you got to go back to how the hierarchy was when the squad was chosen. So, Rajat Patidar comes in for KL Rahul.”
Sanjay Manjrekar
The cricketer-turned-commentator added:
“Kuldeep Yadav walks in straightaway for Jadeja. Go for a pure spinner. I mean, Jadeja is a pure left-arm spinner. He’s gonna be completely different from what England faced in the first Test match. So, it won’t be that easy to play the reverse sweep and the switch reverse sweep or the normal sweep against [him].”
Sanjay Manjrekar
Patidar has scored 4000 runs in 55 first-class matches, averaging 45.97, with 12 tons and 22 half-centuries. Meanwhile, Kuldeep has 34 wickets from eight Tests, including three fifers and two four-wicket hauls.
Sanjay Manjrekar worries about India’s batting woes as England challenge their home dominance in 2nd Test
Sanjay Manjrekar is also concerned about an inexperienced Indian batting order in the absence of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja for the second Test against England. He said:
“Yes, this is the sternest examination of India’s home dominance in the longest time. To be fair, this Indian batting unit that we have for this series is a unit in transition. You’ve got three very young players at the test level, especially playing in a home Test match coming in with a little experience.”
Sanjay Manjrekar
Manjrekar added:
“Three out of the top five or six batters are inexperienced. So, you have to understand India’s situation. It’s not like India is playing badly, it’s just that there’s a new beginning here.”
Sanjay Manjrekar
Besides Rahul and Jadeja, the home team also misses Virat Kohli. He’s out for the second Test for personal reasons. Now, the spotlight’s on India’s captain, Rohit Sharma to extract the most from his batsmen.
India is behind the five-match Test series 0-1 after losing the first match by 28 runs in Hyderabad.