Team India batsman KL Rahul has adjusted well ever since he was slotted in the middle-order in limited-overs. Although a specialist opener, the talented batsman has looked in the scheme of things. With Rohit Sharma out in the ongoing the series, many has backed Rahul to take up the opening slot but Sanjay Manjrekar has stressed that the former should continue in the middle-order.
Meanwhile, the Men in Blues are now blessed with a problem of plenty with a couple of talented openers knocking the door. Along with regulars Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill are looking to get a place in the starting XI. KL Rahul is also in the fray to get his opening slot back.
KL Rahul should continue at No.5 – Sanjay Manjrekar
However, Sanjay Manjrekar has advocated that the Karnataka batsman should continue in the middle-order while Mayank Agarwal should take the opening duties. The former India cricketer-turned commentator cited KL Rahul’s recent form batting for India in the middle-order.
“See, the thing is that India has a lot of depth when it comes to white-ball cricket. Rohit is almost irreplaceable but India has options. Let’s not forget, in his last four innings, Rahul scored more than 80 runs in three innings while batting in the middle order (number five) in India’s last ODI series in New Zealand. The credit needs to go to Rahul that he first got a hundred as an opener and then he registered scores of more than 80 while batting at number five,” Manjrekar told ANI.
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Adding further, Sanjya Manjrekar stressed that India’s middle-order conundrum in recent year is one of the major reasons why KL Rahul should bat at No.5. Incidentally, Virat Kohli & Co suffered badly in the World Cup last year due to instability in the middle-order.
“India’s problem in white-ball cricket for a long time now has been the number four-six slots. In the World Cup, that hurt India a lot and I feel this area needs to be addressed. That is why I feel, Rahul needs to bat at number five because he has done so well in that position and India needs a dependable middle order,” he added.
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