Sanjay Manjrekar feels KL Rahul ‘lucky’ to be picked in the Test squad for Australia tour

Sanjay Manjrekar and KL Rahul

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar made yet another controversial statement soon after the Indian squad got announced for the Australia tour. The cricket analyst took a dig at KL Rahul for finding a spot in the Test team despite many failures in the past. Manjrekar felt that Rahul got ‘lucky’ after getting named in the longest format squad.

In a series of two tweets, the 55-year old wrote, “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. #INDvsAUS.”

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. #INDvsAUS
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 27, 2020

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In another tweet, “KL Rahul in his last 5 Test series – v SA – Avg 7.1, – v Eng – Avg 29, – v WI at home – Avg 18, – v Aus – Avg 10.7, – v WI – Avg 25.4, I say very lucky to get a recall based on IPL & white ball performance. But now let’s just hope he makes the most of this chance. Good luck to him!” Manjrekar wrote.

KL Rahul in his last 5 Test series
– v SA – Avg 7.1
– v Eng – Avg 29
– v WI at home – Avg 18
– v Aus – Avg 10.7
– v WI – Avg 25.4
I say very lucky to get a recall based on IPL & white ball performance. But now let’s just hope he makes the most of this chance. Good luck to him! https://t.co/YBVbeut5jH
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 27, 2020

Rahul’s brilliant run at IPL 2020

In the absence of Rohit Sharma from the side in all three formats, KL Rahul has also been named as the vice-captain for the One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). The Mangalore-born is currently playing in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 from the franchise of Kings XI Punjab. With 595 runs in 12 matches, Rahul also holds the ‘Orange Cap’ for scoring the maximum runs thus far.

After successive failures in the past few Test games, Rahul got dropped from the five-day format. His last outing came against the West Indies in August 2019. Apart from him, Mohammed Siraj also earned his maiden Test call after getting named in the squad.

Team India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Vice-Captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj

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