Manjrekar Raises Concerns Over Easwaran, Rahul's Australia Struggles

Manjrekar Raises Concerns Over Easwaran, Rahul’s Australia Struggles

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed concern over the poor performance of Abhimanyu Easwaran and KL Rahul during the second match between India A and Australia A. He believes that their struggles highlight the challenges Indian batters face when playing in Australian conditions for the first time.

Manjrekar noted that the dismissals of India A batters were typical of Indian batters playing in Australia for the first time. He attributed this to their instinctive playing style, which is not suited to the extra bounce and pace of Australian pitches.

“The dismissal that you saw of most Indian batters was typical of an Indian batter going to Australia and a pitch that has some juice in it where instinctively they are playing in a certain manner and are surprised by the the extra bounce and that happened to all of us,” Manjrekar said.

He advised Indian batters to adapt to Australian conditions and get rid of their “Indian instincts.”

“We went to Australia and that is why we needed time to get used to the bounce and instinctively sort of play a little higher than you would. So you have to get rid of the Indian instincts,” he said.

Manjrekar’s comments come as India prepares for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, starting with the Perth Test on November 22. KL Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran are the frontrunners to open the batting for India, but their recent performances have raised doubts about their readiness.

Easwaran has failed to reach the 20-run mark in all four innings he has played in Australia, while Rahul has scored just 4 and 10 in the second match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Manjrekar’s analysis suggests that both players may need more time to adjust to Australian conditions before they are ready to play in the Test series.