Axe Laxman for Sharma and give Kohli another chance – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sanjay-Vijay-Manjrekar-c88628
The cricketer turned commentator of India, Sanjay Manjrekar, on Sunday backed rookie batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RG-Sharma-c2309’s inclusion into the squad
for the WACA Test at the cost of veteran Test batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 batsman is of the view that such replacement would help India in the long run.
"I would still drop VVS [Laxman] and get Rohit [Sharma] in for next Test,” said Manjrekar said after India faced an innings and 68 runs crushing at the hands of Australia in the second Test at Sydney last week.
“Makes long-term sense. Give Virat [Kohli] one more Test ... just to be sure he does not belong here. VVS averages 20 in last 12 overseas innings. Even if he gets a good score in next Test, it will not serve India long,” he
insisted.
Rohit Sharma, the 24-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Maharashtra-c811 batsman, has played 72 One Day Internationals and 22 T20 Internationals so far and is yet to debut in the longest format of the game. He is widely considered as a talented middle-order
batsman in the young lot of India. He bailed out India on various occasions with his match winning knocks home and away. Recently he was adjudged as the man of the series in the home ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, which the hosts had won 4-1.
Backing the 23-year-old Kohli, Manjrekar said that regardless of his performance in the series so far, he should be given at least another chance on his first stint down under.
“…if Virat, before the tour, was India's next big thing, should he not get more than two Tests on his first stint in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746?" questioned the former India captain.
Kohli, the right-handed middle order batsman from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780, has been a regular member of India’s limited-over squads, however his performance in the Test cricket is not much encouraging. Till date he has played six Test matches
and has amassed just 234 runs at an average of 21.27. His poor performance in the Test series against West Indies last year led to his ax from the Test squad for the disastrous tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 last summer, which saw Dhoni and his men surrendering their Test
number one status.
In the ongoing Test series against Australia, Kohli has compiled a tally of just 43 runs from four innings and was also reprimanded during the Sydney Test for losing his temper on the field.
Tags: