KL Rahul not yet ready to replace Ajinkya Rahane as India's no. 5 in Tests, reckons Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar felt that although KL Rahul had been in fantastic form over the past 12 months in white-ball cricket for India, he still was not good enough to replace India's first-choice no. 5 in Ajinkya Rahane.

Ajinkya Rahane himself has had problems as far as scoring consistently in the longest format was concerned but Sanjay Manjrekar felt that Rahane was still too good a batsman to be dropped from the Indian side.

KL Rahul had struggled for runs the last time he played a Test series against the West Indies while Ajinkya Rahane had scored runs all over the world. This was another reason why Sanjay Manjrekar felt that Rahane was still the best bet in India's middle-order which already had stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.

"KL Rahul has been brilliant at number five. Yes granted, Rahane doesn't look the same player he was in the first two years of his Test career and I would like to see that kind of form coming back. It comes in little sparse, sometimes, but not as consistently as he would like. But based on his runs that he has got, I don't think it is right to think of Rahul at number five in Test matches," Sanjay Manjrekar said on his YouTube channel while answering the questions asked by his followers.

With Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal already scoring runs at the top of the order for India, and having a young and exciting backup in the form of Prithvi Shaw who also had an international hundred to his name, Sanjay Manjrekar felt that KL Rahul's only chance was to play in the middle-order and for that to happen, Manjrekar believed that KL Rahul had to go back to domestic cricket and had to score loads of runs.

Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal would open against Australia: Sanjay Manjrekar

With India touring Australia in December this year, Sanjay Manjrekar felt that India should go ahead with the combination of Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal as both the batsman would like playing on pitches in Australia that offered true bounce.

Mayank Agarwal had already done well in Australia the last time India toured and Rohit Sharma's ability to hit through the line of the ball was something India could use to their strength.

"The last time India played a test match (in Australia), Rohit Sharma wasn't available. Shaw and Mayank Agarwal were the opening batsmen. And I thought, Shaw with the kind of technique that he has in those kinds of conditions, those pitches, a bit okay, actually more than okay. But if Rohit Sharma is fit and then he comes in… Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma actually would be the openers and Prithvi Shaw would be your second option,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.