Team India’s highly-anticipated Test tour of Australia is all set to get underway on November 22 in Perth. In their last two tours, they had performed exceptionally well to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
However, the team find itself in a precarious position this time around after losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home. Several reports are also claiming that India skipper Rohit Sharma might miss out on the opening Test due to personal reasons.
Notably, KL Rahul was made to open alongside Abhimanyu Easwaran in India A’s second unofficial Test against Australia A at MCG. This move has left former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar unimpressed.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said India are in panic mode after the embarrassing whitewash on home soil.
"Clearly, India is in panic mode. They are a bit shaken by what happened against New Zealand at home. And that's when plans start to go awry. And that is where I believe that one has to actually look at it in a different way, where you think there's nothing to lose here," Manjrekar stated.
The cricketer-turned-commentator also slammed the selectors and team management over their obsession with Rahul, despite the batter not repaying their faith.
Rahul has represented India in 53 Tests so far, scoring 2981 runs at an average of 33.88 with eight hundreds and 15 half-centuries.
"So that is the time when you go back and do the right thing. And play players who deserve to get a chance. KL Rahul. You know, I don't know, there's some fascination that the team management, selectors have for him that they just want him part of the playing 11, whether it's at the top or down the order.
"Maybe Abhimanyu Easwaran hasn't convinced them as much. But it's not for us to play God and decide that maybe Abhimanyu Easwaran won't get run in the Test match. We've had many examples in the past where players have surprised you by the performances. Sometimes you yourself are surprised by your own sort of performance as to the height that you reach. So keep it simple and make the right choice," he explained.
Sanjay Manjrekar further emphasized the downfall of Rahul in the longest format and opined that backing Easwaran might be the right thing to do even though he failed to make a mark against Australia A.
"I would actually say KL Rahul should consider himself very lucky to be getting opportunities. Such comebacks and opportunities, very few players over the years in the history of Indian cricket have been given this kind of a deal,” Manjrekar remarked.
"So whether it's up the order, down the order, doesn't matter as long as he's getting a chance to play in the Playing XI, despite the kind of record that he has. Now the average has dropped to 33 after 50 Test matches. I guess somewhere they hope that KL Rahul might find that form that he's capable of.
"He's got 100 in Australia. So that is why he keeps coming back into plans. But I think it's time to now maybe, not with conviction, that you think Abhimanyu Easwaran is the guy to open along with Jaiswal. Maybe that doesn't fill you with too much confidence, but that would be the right thing to do," he concluded.
