Sanjay Manjrekar unsure if India would persist with Karun Nair for 4th Test against England

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Karun Nair has some issues in his batting after the right-hander could not deliver in the third Test match against England at Lord’s. The visitors suffered a heartbreaking 22-run loss at the Mecca of Cricket. 

Nair returned with scores of 40 and 14 in the third Test match as he once again could not deliver for the visitors. The 33-year-old has scored 131 runs in three Test matches against England in this series at an average of 21.83.

On the other hand, Manjrekar highlighted that Yashasvi Jaiswal played a poor shot in the second innings as he decided to take on the attack against Jofra Archer’s short-ball plan. Jaiswal was dismissed on a blob as Archer gave a perfect start to his team

Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “[Yashasvi] Jaiswal clearly played a poor shot. You could see that his mind was pre-programmed to take on Jofra Archer with the short ball. Had he just gone with the line and hit him over point, it would have been a better option. Karun Nair, I believe has some issues, and I don’t how long India will persist with him.

Manjrekar said Indian captain Shubman Gill looked tentative in the second innings as he was beaten on four occasions.

“Shubman Gill, I completely connect his performance in the second innings, where he looked really tentative and missed four deliveries in the channel, with the kind of reception that he got at the crease. So, he might be working on that,” the 60-year-old went on to add.

The cricketer-turned-commentator said India would be highly disappointed after they could not chase down 193.

“These guys will take all this to heart because they have come here with tremendous confidence, believing that they can beat England, the way they have batted. KL Rahul as well wasn’t able to carry on. Rishabh Pant got a beauty, but they’ll all be digging deep and looking to get better. That is how they think.”

The fourth Test match between England and India will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, from July 23 onwards.