Hyderabad: Former Test cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has a habit of inviting controversies. He was recently excluded from the commentary panel as the BCCI cricketing board was “not happy with his work”. Nevertheless, Manjrekar keeps himself visible with his comments in social media.
On Tuesday, he tweeted that KL Rahul didn’t deserve a place in the Test team after the Karnataka opener was included for the Australian tour. Manjrekar felt Rahul set a precedent by being selected based on his performance in IPL. The Kings XI Punjab skipper is in hot form and is leading the batting charts with 650 runs.
Manjrekar tweeted: You had set a 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.
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
But many of them did not agree with Manjrekar’s views. They felt Rahul deserves a place in all the three formats of the game. At the moment Rahul averages 50+ in all formats. Although he had a bad tour of Australia last time and a bad run in the last five Tests, many feel he deserves this call when he is at his peak.
The Sunil Joshi-led National selection panel even elevated Rahul to the vice-captaincy post in the T20 and ODI internationals because of a reported injury to Rohit Sharma of Mumbai Indians and was not fit for the Australian tour.
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