‘There's a lot of tentativeness, not the kind of commitment you see in Kohli’: Manjrekar on Rahane’s dismissal
Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar spoke about Rahane’s dismissal and said highlighted a dip in the latter’s form despite scoring a match-winning hundred against Australia in Melbourne, during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ajinkya Rahane on Sunday played a resilient knock for India against New Zealand in the World Test Championship in Southampton. He looked rock solid against the Kiwi pacers who were swinging the ball both ways under overcast conditions. However, he was trapped in a phenomenal manner by left-arm quick Neil Wagner with a short ball. Rahane played a half-hearted pull-shot and was caught by Tom Latham at square leg.
Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar spoke about Rahane’s dismissal and highlighted a dip in the latter’s form despite scoring a match-winning hundred against Australia in Melbourne, during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
While speaking with ESPN Cricinfo, Manjrekar said, “It's just the same Rahane that we have been seeing for the last many years, barring one or two innings like that hundred against Australia in the Test that India won. After that, he had a drop of form. It is interesting because, after a hundred, your form generally takes off, you feel more confident. But he has got a string of low scores. I think he really applied himself, so credit to him for just going through the grind.”
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“The thing about Rahane is that there is not one particular mode of dismissal for him in the last few years when he has got low scores. So, I have always associated his dismissals and low scores with his state of mind,” he added.
Speaking about the shot that caused Rahane’s dismissal, Manjrekar said there was a lot of ‘tentativeness’ in it.
“As for the pull shot on which he got out, there was a lot of tentativeness and not the kind of commitment you see in Virat Kohli, or Rohit Sharma, or Shubman Gill or Rishabh Pant. The kind of commitment they have in their attacking shots.
“It was an extension of Ajinkya Rahane's play generally over the last few years of being a little unsure and tentativeness. It's amazing he still contributes to India's total and those 49 runs will be quite handy,” Manjrekar said.