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Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth has slammed Sanjay Manjrekar for questioning KL Rahul’s inclusion in the Test squad, saying the latter cannot ‘think beyond Bombay’.
After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squads for Australia tours, Manjrekar via Twitter said it’s a bad precedent to recall Rahul in the Test side based on his IPL form, where he is currently the highest run-scorer.
“You set a bad precedent when you recall a player for Tests on IPL performance. Especially if the player has been an abject failure in his last few Tests. Whether that player succeeds or fails is irrelevant, such selections massively demotivate Ranji players. #INDvsAUS” tweeted Manjrekar.
You set a bad precedent when you recall a player for Tests on IPL performance. Especially if the player has been an abject failure in his last few Tests. Whether that player succeeds or fails is irrelevant, such selections massively demotivate Ranji players. #INDvsAUS
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 27, 2020
Srikkanth, who was the chairman of selectors when India won the World Cup 2011, disagreed with Manjrekar calling his views ‘rubbish’.
“Leave Sanjay Manjrekar alone, he doesn’t have any other job,” Srikkanth said in his YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka.
“Questioning KL Rahul’s selection in Tests? He has played well in Tests. I won’t agree at all. Just because Sanjay wants to question something, I don’t think I’ll agree. You shouldn’t question something just to create a controversy. KL Rahul has done brilliantly in all formats. Go through his Test record.”
‘Sanjay Manjrekar cannot think beyond Bombay’
Manjrekar had questioned Rahul’s selection in whites, pointing out his poor run of form in Test cricket. Rahul has not scored a half-century in his last 12 Test innings. Barring a 149 in the dead-rubber fifth Test at The Oval against England in 2018, Rahul has had a lean patch in the format since the start of the South Africa tour in January 2018. Since then, he has averaged a mere 22.23 in 27 Test innings.
“He might have been inconsistent but the same KL Rahul made his debut in Australia and made a century. He’s a good player of fast bowling. Let’s understand, he’s a very good player of fast bowling,” Srikkanth added.
“Sanjay Manjrekar cannot think beyond Bombay. That’s the problem.
“We are talking neutral. Manjrekar cannot think beyond Bombay. For people like Manjrekar, everything is Bombay, Bombay and Bombay. They have to think beyond Bombay.”
Srikkanth also pointed out that even Rohit Sharma was selected in the Test squad last year based on his white-ball performance.
“I’ve seen a lot of people, Harsha Bhogle doesn’t know anything except Bombay. Problem is that they’re not neutral. We are talking about Suryakumar Yadav’s inclusion (in the limited-overs squads), am I talking about DK (Dinesh Karthik) and Ashwin (players from Srikkanth’s home state Tamil Nadu)? We’re not fighting for DK and Ashwin,” the 1983 World Cup winner responded to a viewer comment saying it’s important to be neutral.
