BAN vs IND: Sanjay Manjrekar defends KL Rahul amidst his poor run

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar came in support of KL Rahul after the latter once again failed to make the most of the opportunity in the second innings of the ongoing Test in Chattogram against Bangladesh. 

On Friday, the 30-year-old started well but failed to convert it into a big one as pacer Khaled Ahmed got the better of him. The speedster peppered him with a barrage of short deliveries and there were several occasions when Rahul looked in utmost discomfort. 

His agony was finally put to an end as a miscued pull off a bouncer from Khaled in the 23rd over was easily caught by Taijul Islam at fine leg. After scoring 23 runs, the cricketer walked away really disappointed and now will be waiting for the second Test to return back to form. 

Manjrekar, who was part of the commentary panel, mentioned that the opener doesn’t have any problem facing short deliveries and it was just a one-off incident when he got it wrong.

“KL Rahul does not have a weakness against short ball. But he got out trying to attack the short ball today,” said Manjrekar on air.

Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara lead India's charge on Day 3

After a long wait, the youngster Shubman Gill finally registered his maiden century in Test cricket. After failing to put up a show in the first innings, Gill was criticised on social media but the 23-year-old responded with a meticulous century to silence the critics. After KL Rahul’s dismissal, the Punjab-born cricketer stepped up and scored 110 runs but eventually lost his wicket to Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

India’s run flow however didn’t stop even after that. After a terrific knock in the first innings, Cheteshwar Pujara once again proved why he is such a dependable batter for India in the longest format. The cricketer finally got an opportunity to register a three-figure score after 1400 plus days as the 34-year-old finished his innings on 102* from 130 balls. It also turned out to be Pujara’s fastest century in Test cricket (in terms of balls consumed).

India in the end declared their innings on 258 and Bangladesh are set a target of 513 runs to win the first Test.