‘This has been the KL Rahul story’ - Sanjay Manjrekar reflects on Indian batter's dip in form in Tests

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recently came forward and talked about the form of star batter KL Rahul. It is worth noting that in the ongoing first Test between India and Bangladesh, KL Rahul was sent packing for just 16 runs in 52 deliveries in the first innings of the game. 

Rahul made a comeback into the Test side after he had missed the last four matches of the England series in the early stages of 2024. Seeing his early dismissal against Bangladesh, Manjrekar opined that Rahul rarely looks comfortable batting despite having form on his side. 

“This has been the KL Rahul story. It’s amazing that he plays a brilliant innings at the Test level and the next two three innings it seems like he has got a pair in the last Test. Even when you saw him bat today, it almost seemed an innings without purpose. That can happen, it happened to me in the second half of my career where everything was internal,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo. 

He stated that KL Rahul’s problems mostly come down to his temperament, which has been the case for him throughout his career so far. Even though the former Indian cricketer and commentator lauded Rahul for having played scintillating knocks and scored hundreds under pressure on several occasions. But he still questioned his temperament to go big when it mattered the most.

“That is more a temperamental problem for KL Rahul that has plagued him for 50 Test matches because of the number that he has. He’s got some brilliant hundreds but an average of 34. He’s got hundreds, not one or two, quite a few and in testing conditions but the average of 34 tells you about his temperament and that we got to look at it today as well,” Manjrekar added.

Also Read- KL Rahul's straightforward dismissal after getting set was disappointing: Zaheer Khan

Ashwin-Jadeja steady India' ship after senior batters fail

Team India’s top-order could not amount to much against Bangladesh in the first innings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal being the only batter scoring a half century from the top order. However, despite the collapse, the knock of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin helped India to a score of 339 runs with the loss of six wickets by the end of day 1.