Sanjay Manjrekar says Test cricket is the last priority compared to other two formats after India’s loss against South Africa

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar said Test cricket has gone down the pecking order in Indian cricket after India suffered a 30-run loss against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday. India was skittled out for a paltry score of 93 runs in the second essay as the hosts could not chase down 124.

The Eden Gardens track has come under scrutiny as the batters have found it difficult to get any momentum. Manjrekar said red-ball cricket is not the priority for players, and thus India struggled with the bat against the Proteas.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle, “The writing has been on the wall for a while and we weren’t willing to pay attention to it. The fact of today for the last five years at least is that Test cricket has slowly but surely become the least favored format for everyone involved, especially the players coming through the ranks and most stakeholders as well. It’s the last priority compared to T20s, private leagues and 50-overs cricket.”

“So what happens is Test cricket is the only format that forces you to sharpen your defensive skills. That is why players until 2000 were so obsessed with wanting a good defense because Test cricket was the No. 1 format. Now because it’s the third priority for a player, defense becomes the last priority for a player, which means a batter’s ability to keep the good balls away is diminishing.”

Manjrekar highlighted that every batter has the skills to hit the big shots but they don’t have the skills to defend the good balls and keep the bowler at bay on bowling-friendly pitches.

“Ask them to hit the ball into the second tier of the stands and every batter today will be able to do it. But to keep good balls away is a tough one for today’s players and they cannot be blamed for that. It’s just how cricket has panned out over the last few years,” said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).

“So if you want to see a good Test series, the time has come for us to have pitches like we had in England. That’s why we had a great series to watch. The pitches were flat, which means less good balls and less difficult balls to play for batters today and that is what you call adjusting to the changing times.”

India and South Africa will take on each other in the second Test at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, from Saturday onwards.