Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar expressed his disappointment after KL Rahul could not keep up his consistent performances in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. Rahul got off to a solid start in the series, returning with scores of 26 and 77 in the opening Test at Brisbane.
Rahul then scored an impressive knock of 84 runs in the first innings at Brisbane but could not keep up the consistent performance in Melbourne and Sydney.
The flamboyant batter scored 276 runs in five Test matches against the Aussies at an average of 30.67.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “I think now we know what KL Rahul is about. We were talking about him being India’s best batter at the start of the series. He looked so compact, then got that 80 in Brisbane as well. We thought this might just change his career in the right direction. Then you saw the failures again.”
Manjrekar said Rahul will be seen on the England tour as he performed decently in the first half of the series against Australia.
“I don’t see him being left out for England considering that India still are looking for an opener. They don’t want to go to [Abhimanyu] Easwaran and KL Rahul, the last time he was there, played well. So, I see that opening combination continuing, unless Rohit Sharma comes in and throws spanner in the works.”
On the other hand, it was the maiden Australia tour for Yashasvi Jaiswal and he impressed one and all with his batting at the top of the order. The left-hander was India’s highest run-getter in the series with 391 runs in five Test matches at an average of 43.44.
“Incredible. Also, overcoming the Mitchell Starc problem with that swinging ball. He was really the greatest news to come through. Top of the order against that kind of an attack on helpful pitches, to have two scores of 80 and a 160 was tremendous. Big gain for India,” the former Mumbai cricketer told ESPNcricinfo.
India will next host England for three ODIs and five T20Is.
