Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth isn't happy with his one-time teammate Sanjay Manjrekar raising questions on KL Rahul's selection in the Indian Test squad for the upcoming Australia tour. He said Manjrekar is biased towards Mumbai cricketers and can't think beyond them.
Manjrekar felt the selectors are setting bad example by picking players based on their IPL performance in the Test squad. "You set a bad precedent when you recall a player for Tests on IPL performance. Especially if the player has been an abject failure in his last few Tests. Whether that player succeeds or fails is irrelevant, such selections massively demotivate Ranji players.", he tweeted.
Srikkanth slammed Manjrekar for his comment and said questioning the inclusion of Rahul is wrong. "Leave Sanjay Manjrekar alone, he doesn't have any other job," Srikkanth said in his YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka.
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"Questioning KL Rahul's selection in Tests? He has played well in Tests. I won't agree at all. Just because Sanjay wants to question something, I don't think I'll agree. You shouldn't question something just to create a controversy. KL Rahul has done brilliantly in all formats. Go through his Test record. What Sanjay Manjrekar is talking about is all rubbish. I'll not agree."
To make his opinion strong, Manjrekar had presented Rahul's records in Test cricket in the last 5 Test series.
Srikkanth's son, Anirudha told him about Manjrekar highlighting Rahul's inconsistency, the ex-India batsman replied Rahul has a century in Australia.
"He might have been inconsistent but the same KL Rahul made his debut in Australia and made a century. He's a good player of fast bowling. Let's understand, he's a very good player of fast bowling," he said.
"Sanjay Manjrekar cannot think beyond Bombay. That's the problem. We are talking neutral. Manjrekar cannot think beyond Bombay. For people like Manjrekar, everything is Bombay, Bombay, and Bombay. They have to think beyond Bombay."
Srikkanth also added that a lot of cricket pundits don't rate anyone except the Mumbai cricketers. "I've seen a lot of people, Harsha Bhogle doesn't know anything except Bombay. Problem is that they're not neutral. We are talking about Suryakumar Yadav's inclusion (in the limited-overs squads), am I talking about DK and Ashwin? We're not fighting for DK and Ashwin."
