IND vs SA: “After Getting A Hundred, His Form Just Goes Down”-Sanjay Manjrekar Not Happy With KL Rahul’s Consistency In Test Cricket

Former Indian opener Sanjay Manjrekar raised questions about the consistency of KL Rahul in test cricket. While acknowledging the right-hand batter’s extraordinary talent, Manjrekar also mentioned that after reaching hundreds, KL Rahul appears to entirely fade out of the game for a few innings.

Rahul scored an incredible 101 in the first inning of the Centurion Test to start the Test series in South Africa. He got out for 4 and 8 in the next two innings, respectively. After Rahul was dismissed on the first day of the Cape Town Test, India’s batting collapse began, and they lost a record six wickets for no runs in their opening innings. KL Rahul, who has the experience of playing so many test matches, was playing in his 49th Test match, and he has scored 2,755 runs with eight hundred at an average of 33.59.

Good hundreds and then there is a lull- Sanjay Manjrekar on KL Rahul

Sanjay Manjrekar described Rahul as a special batsman who can get superb hundreds but can also be sluggish in several innings during a conversation on ESPNcricinfo. He added that there is no doubt about the ability of KL Rahul, but the thing that worries him is his consistency.

“We are talking about KL Rahul, who has Test match experience of over 40 Test matches. It’s a very unique career that he has. A very unique batter as well. No doubt about the ability – we saw in the first innings [in Centurion]. But just look at the last three hundreds that he has got at the Test level – good hundreds and then there is a lull,” said Sanjay Manjrekar.

Sanjay Manjrekar went on to say that KL Rahul‘s case was very unique, as his form just went down after scoring a century. If we look at the next five innings after the last three hundred, his average was around 20.

“The next five innings after the last three hundreds, average was 19, 21 and 24. This is a very unique case where, after getting a hundred, his form just goes down. It’s happened three or four times in his career. Hope this time it’s slightly different,” he further added.

Shreyas Iyer needs to do a lot of work on his technique -Sanjay Manjrekar

Despite the fact that India’s inexperienced batters have had difficulty during the current tour, Sanjay Manjrekar believes Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal have made some encouraging strides. But in his opinion, Shreyas Iyer still needs to improve in his defense a lot.

“Of the three players that we see occupying positions 1,3 and 5, I think Shreyas Iyer needs to do the most work on his defense. Poor fellow got a great delivery, but that’s what you get in Test cricket in South Africa. I wouldn’t say that they wasted the opportunity. That’s something that just beyond your control a little bit. You’ve got to be understanding because they are all learning on the job,” Sanjay Manjrekar elaborated.