Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has targeted India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane who had a string of low scores in recent matches. After his match-winning century in Melbourne as captain, Rahane has scored just a 67 to show for his efforts in the third Test. The Indian Test vice-captain has had scores of 27*, 22, 4, 37, 24, 1, 0, 67, 10, 7 since his hundred in Melbourne. Thus, the right-hander has managed only one fifty-plus score in the ongoing India-England Tests and is once again facing the heat from the media and former cricketers, who have questioned his form and confidence.
Meanwhile speaking to ESPN Cricinfo on the second day’s play, Sanjay Manjrekar referred to Rahane’s form and questioned his confidence after his 27 in the first innings of the fourth Test.
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Sanjay Manjrekar Slams Ajinkya Rahane
“Coming to Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket, every time I see him bat these days, I don’t get that comfort…. Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t give you that security that the team needs or his fans would want from him. That’s something that has been wrong with his batting for a long time now” Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar further opined that Rahane appears to be short of confidence. “Every time I see Ajinkya Rahane bat these days, I feel a batsman short of confidence, a batsman who seems extremely insecure,” he added.
“Rahane stood out with his (aggressive) approach. Rahane has batted in this way in the last 3-4 years. There have been times when he plays all these shots. But even when he plays in this fashion not all the shots that we saw were convincing. So yes, he has scored freely but wasn’t giving too much confidence to the batsmen who were watching from the dressing room,” Manjrekar furthers said.
Ajinkya Rahane is one the most seniormost players in the current Indian Test team. He has 12 tons and 23 fifties to his name in his career so far. The likes of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are waiting in the wings and a few more low scores might see him rested.
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