Sanjay Manjrekar's 'tailender' comment on KL Rahul highlights India's uncertainty with opener's position

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed doubts about KL Rahul's ability to open the innings for India. Despite being a seasoned player with 53 Test matches under his belt, Rahul's recent form has not been up to the mark. While he has mostly batted as an opener for the team, Rahul shifted to the middle order during India's tour of South Africa earlier this year, where he batted at No. 5. However, injuries and inconsistent form have led to Rahul being left out of India's Test XI, including being dropped from the 2nd and 3rd Tests against New Zealand at home. This has only reinforced Manjrekar's lack of confidence in Rahul's ability to succeed as an opener for India.

Rahul has opened for India in 44 Tests and has slammed seven out of his eight Test centuries at that position en route to scoring 2551 runs. With Rohit Sharma not playing the first Test and Shubman Gill out injured with a fractured finger, the toss-up to partner is between Rahul and Abhimanyu Easwaran, with KL likely to get the nod. But Manjrekar, while highlighting Rahul's recent run, doesn't feel he is the ideal candidate to face the new ball.

"It's not like KL Rahul as an opening option is setting the stage on fire. Going by the reality, KL Rahul currently you can see, you've got to feel for him, I love him as a player the kind of talent he has. He looks a bit down on confidence and you don't want someone like him batting at the top of the order because much of the tempo of the innings is set at the start number 1,2 and 3," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.

Instead, he feels Rahul would be a much better fit at No. 6, a spot below Rishabh Pant. Rahul made a sensational start to his Test career 10 years ago in Australia, scoring a century in just his second match, but instead of building on it, his numbers have dipped. Rahul has scored 183 runs from seven Test innings Down Under at an average of 26.14. More importantly, the manner in which he got out in the India A Game last week – in complete shambles – has also raised concerns.

Manjrekar is confident of Rahul's batting abilities in the lower middle order. He believes the batter is well-equipped to face the old ball and can help keep the innings moving with tailenders. In six innings batting at No. 6, Rahul has scored 234 runs, including a century – 101 against South Africa in Centurion, so it's not like he is a stranger to batting at this position.

"I'm going by KL Rahul for the work he's done down the order and very recently in South Africa. He was batting at number six with a softer Kookaburra ball and if he has to bat with the tailenders, I feel he will be terrific where he's got the big game as well. So I see KL better used and more chances of KL Rahul adding value to the team at that position," he added.