Sanjay Manjrekar says Karun Nair ‘not a No. 3’, bats for Sai Sudharsan’s inclusion for Lord’s Test

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Karun Nair is not suitable to bat at one drop against England. Nair returned with scores of 31 and 26 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston and thus failed to convert his start into substantial scores. The Vidarbha captain had scored 0 and 20 in the opening Test and he hasn’t delivered so far in the first two matches.

On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan made his Test debut in the opening Test against England at Leeds, Headingley. The left-hander from Tamil Nadu returned with scores of 0 and 30 but he was dropped for the second game.

“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,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.

Manjrekar said he would back Sai Sudharsan ahead of Karun Nair, who had scored a truckload of runs in the domestic circuit.

“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.

After adding Jofra Archer to the playing XI, Manjrekar said England would have more teeth in their bowling. The cricketer-turned-commentator wants India to be cautious with the bat.

“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.

The third Test match between India and England will be played at Lord’s, London from 10th July onwards.