Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar commended KL Rahul’s consistency and maturity, stating that the opener has successfully addressed previous weaknesses in his game. Rahul impressed with a calm century in the first innings at Lord’s during the third Test against England.
Manjrekar noted that with almost 50 Tests under his belt, Rahul appears more complete and secure at the crease. During the current series, the Bengaluru-born hitter has 375 runs in six innings and an outstanding 62.50 batting average.
“As an analyst and former cricketer, seeing KL Rahul has provided me with the most satisfaction. He’s always had the game. Yes, there were some ambiguities in his technique, but he worked through them and resolved them. What was lacking was consistency. On one of our broadcasts, we even jokingly referred to him as ‘Mr. Consistent KL Rahul’ — but it’s taken him a long time to truly earn that label,” remarked Manjrekar on ‘Follow The Blues’.
“He has now played over 50 Test matches for India, and what I see now is near to perfection – there are no obvious flaws. For the first time in an international series, he has scored over 200 runs. That, to me, is a huge takeaway for India,” he said.
Pant run-out was the turning point: Manjrekar
The cricketer-turned-comnentator noted that a few small mistakes proved costly for the visitors. One such moment was the run-out of Rishabh Pant, a turning point in the match. He acknowledged that while it was an unfortunate dismissal from India’s perspective, it was also a moment of brilliance from Ben Stokes, who showcased his sharp fielding skills to execute the run-out.
“When I look at the turning points and the small mistakes made, I feel India lost this Test match because of those little errors. There were no major blunders — even Rishabh Pant’s run-out was just one of those minor mistakes. But this is where the brilliance of Ben Stokes comes in. He mentioned in his interview that Pant stuttered slightly, and he sensed an opportunity for a run-out,” Manjrekar said.
“And Stokes, right in the middle of a bowling spell, pulled off a fielding masterclass. That’s the mark of a champion cricketer. Pant, perhaps, was trying to give KL Rahul a chance to get back on strike and complete his century. But like I’ve said, the team didn’t make any massive errors — it was the accumulation of small ones that made the difference in the end,” he concluded.
India
