"We know of a former batter who would have gone after that" - Sanjay Manjrekar's cryptic remark after KL Rahul's leave in ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test 

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar took a sly dig, presumably at Virat Kohli, after KL Rahul left a delivery outside the off-stump alone during the first innings on Day 1 of the series opener against England. The opening pair of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, have dominated the proceedings after being put into bat first at Headingley, Leeds on Friday, June 20.

KL Rahul was at his solid best against the new ball, leaving the booming outswingers by Brydon Carse early on. However, he was also not pinned down at the crease and made sure to punish the poor deliveries to put the crippled England bowling unit under pressure.

During the 22nd over of the innings, KL Rahul left an outswinger by Ben Stokes by shouldering his arms, not showing any intent to play the delivery. Sanjay Manjrekar hailed the opening batter's decision-making and composure, while adding that a 'former batter' would have gone after the delivery and nicked it.

"We know of a former batter who would have gone after that delivery and got himself into trouble," Manjrekar said on JioHotstar. "The blueprint for India's success, what we have seen so far is, after that short ball, the next ball is a great delivery. Any other batter, slightly insecure, or not thinking right, or not having any clarity, would have gone after that ball. It was swinging as well, and KL Rahul has left everything in that line," Manjrekar said a couple of overs later after another KL Rahul leave.

Virat Kohli's weakness outside the off-stump was well-documented, something which originated in his first tour of England in 2014. James Anderson and co. had exploited the weak link to perfection, as the ace batter only scored 134 runs in the series.

KL Rahul edged one to slips right after Sanjay Manjrekar's comments to end a fine knock

The opening batter attempted a flashy drive off Brydon Carse's bowling after his well-judged leave earlier in the 25th over. He went after a delivery going wide away from him, caught a thick outside edge, which Joe Root pouched safely in the slip cordon.

Rahul departed after a well-made 42 off 78 deliveries, and debutant Sai Sudharsan followed suit in the next over for an unfortunate duck to close out the session. Team India are placed at 92-2 at Lunch on Day 1 in Leeds.

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Edited by Gokul Nair