“A question mark” – Sanjay Manjrekar on India’s batting lineup in Virat Kohli’s absence

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels India’s batting line-up doesn’t look strong in Virat Kohli’s absence. Kohli has opted out of the first two Test matches against England due to personal reasons. In Kohli’s absence, the onus will be on the likes of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

India has batters like Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer but they aren’t in the best of forms in the red-ball version. While Kohli had scored 172 runs in two Test matches against South Africa at an average of 43, the rest of the batters had failed to make a mark.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma had also 345 runs when England last toured India in 2021 and the Indian skipper is going to hold the key at the top of the order.

Sanjay Manjrekar said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo, “I think India should be able to dominate once again in home conditions. Just that batting part, with Virat Kohli not playing, has become a little bit of a question mark.”

On the other hand, Manjrekar reckons India will prepare turning pitches, which will help them. India has a potent spin battery of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel, who have done a brilliant job in home conditions.

​​”I don’t think it is a gamble (preparing rank-turners). It is a very reliable way to win matches for India because of the kind of opposition that India have. England have Jack Leach and two or three other spinners; a couple of them haven’t played for England, and one of them has just played a Test match.

“When you look at the kind of ability England have, it’s a no-brainer that India would want to have pitches that will turn, especially with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav being a spin force.” he added.

Manjrekar reckons India will dominate on spin-friendly pitches but feels there is always an element of surprise in the game.

“I expect something similar that we have seen in the recent past: India dominating. I expect pitches to again suit spin, but you always have to leave allowance for something that we never expect. This constantly happens in our sport, where we think this is something that’s likely to happen and we’re very sure, and then a surprise comes along, like in 2013, when England surprised us through Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.”

At lunch of the opening day, England were 108-3 after electing to bat first.