Former Indian Cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that the Indian team has more exciting T20 potential in the country, which could explain why KL Rahul was left out of the Indian T20 squad for the South Africa series. The 31-year-old is not part of India’s plans following their dismissal campaign in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Young Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, and Shubman Gill have impressed the team in the given opportunity in the shorter format of the game, with Indian skipper Rohit Sharma expected to return for the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States.
During a discussion of Star Sports’ ‘Game Plan,’ Sanjay Manjrekar was asked about KL Rahul’s omission from the squad for which the cricketer-turned-commentator believes that the wicketkeeper-batter was correctly chosen for the ODI and Test squads, as they have more exciting players for the shorter format of the game.
“Basically what’s happened is KL Rahul’s performances in the major T20 matches, the T20 World Cup for example, they have realized that they have got more exciting options than KL Rahul in T20 cricket.”
“However, I thought he was superb in the 50-over World Cup, so he is back there, and in Test matches, obviously an option as a keeper as well. So, I think at the moment, slightly out of favour with the selectors when it comes to T20 cricket,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
KL Rahul did not have a memorable World Cup in 2022 in Australia since he struggled on the powerplay failing to give a blistering start to the team. The Indian opener struck at 89.47 in the World Cup 2022 powerplay in the six innings he played and was eventually dropped from the Indian T20 team.
We Saw Recently How Suryakumar Yadav Played As A Captain And A Player – Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar was also asked about Suryakumar Yadav, who is captaining a young T20I team in South Africa, and he remarked that Suryakumar’s performances as a batter will help his cause as a captain and believes that he can bat in the South African conditions.
“He will manage because it seems like Suryakumar Yadav finds himself in a comfort zone when it comes to T20 cricket as a player and a captain, and we saw recently how he played as a captain and a player.”
“So I don’t think he will have any problems and with the sort of pitches that are there in South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav the batter will make the biggest contribution for Suryakumar Yadav the captain,” Sanjay Manjrekar added.
Suryakumar Yadav, who has established himself as one of the best T20 batsmen in the world, has led the Indian team exceedingly well against the Australian team in the five-match T20 series and would lead the young Indian side against South Africa in the three-match T20 series, starting on December 10th.
