Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels Shreyas Iyer has to decide which are the formats he is going to try and excel in. Iyer was ruled out of the three Test matches against England after complaining of a stiff back.
Iyer returned with scores of 35 and 13 in the opening Test match at Hyderabad against England. The Mumbai batter returned with scores of 27 and 29 in the second Test at Vizag and thus once again could not convert his starts into substantial scores. Iyer could only score 104 runs in the first two Test matches at an average of 26.
Manjrekar reckons Iyer must strengthen his defensive skills if he has to achieve success in the red-ball version.
“Iyer has to decide which are the formats he is going to try and excel in. If Tests continue to be his priority then he has got to work on his defensive game whether it’s pace and bounce or spin. Develop a game where he is confident in defense and then when he takes the aggressive route it’s an extension of the defensive play where he is trying to dominate and not escape pressure by playing a cocounter-attackingame,” said Manjrekar on ESPN Cricinfo.
The renowned commentator feels KL Rahul will walk back into the final XI and with KS Bharat not grabbing his opportunities with the bat, Manjrekar wants India to give chances to other wicket-keepers. Dhruv Jurel could make his debut in Rajkot as per the latest reports.
“Rahul definitely comes in for a batter. Have no idea how the team management and the selectors are thinking about the keeper. Before Rishabh Pant comes and takes his rightful place in the Test squad, would like to have a look at some of the other options India have,” added Manjrekar.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja is also named in the remaining three Test matches squad but Manjrekar feels India will stick to their combination of two seamers and three spinners with Mohammed Siraj available for selection.
“If Mohammed Siraj wasn’t available as a second seamer, then it would have been easier for India to play four spinners and go the English way. But with Siraj available, and with the reverse swinging creating opportunities for wickets for the seamers, and with the way England have played the finger spinners, India might stick to two seam bowlers and a finger spinner making way,” said Manjrekar.
The third Test match between India and England will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.
