Sanjay Manjrekar wants captain Rohit Sharma to bat at no. 3 in the second innings.© AFP
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar wants captain Rohit Sharma to bat at no. 3 in the second innings of the ongoing 4th Test against Australia in Melbourne. With all three results possible on the final day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Manjrekar has backed KL Rahul to open, having impressed everyone with his batting in the previous Tests. Rahul had opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal in all three Tests prior to Melbourne. Rohit, on the other hand, batted at no. 6 in Adelaide and Bribane, after having missed the series opener.
Manjrekar was pessimistic about Rohit’s recent form, adding that it won’t be any different if he bats at the top or no. 3.
“Ideally, you would want KL Rahul back at the top because it’s important to have an opening start. With the kind of form Rohit Sharma has been in, you are hoping against hope that he has another long innings under his belt. Rahul at the top restores a little more confidence, and it’s been a successful opening pair in the series. That could happen and No.3 for Rohit may not be too different from batting at the top of the order,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
Manjrekar said that Australia would find it tough to dismiss the likes of Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar when the ball becomes soft.
“But the real dangerman apart from the top four are people like Pant, who is used to playing a great innings. As the Kookaburra ball gets soft, you have got three guys Australia will find it tough to get out. Jadeja, Reddy and Sundar. With the Indian batting running deep and with a soft Kookaburra ball, Australia will have to bowl really well to clean up the entire Indian batting lineup,” he added.
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