'Sarfaraz Khan appears to be an exciting batter' - Sanjay Manjrekar makes statement ahead of third Test match against England

Sanjay Manjrekar, former India cricketer has supported Sarfaraz Khan to make his debut for India in the third Test match against England in Rajkot. Sanjay Manjrekar has stated that his record has average of 70 in first class cricket and he can play the spin well.

Sanjay Manjrekar also revealed that why Devdutt Padikkal name has included in the squad as replacement of KL Rahul who is not able due to fitness issue for the third Test match.

Sarfaraz Khan has scored over 3912 runs in 66 First class innings with an average of 69.85. He has also scored 14 centuries and 11 fifties. While playing for India A against England Lions in unofficial Test match he has scored 96, 4, 55 and a knock of 161 runs.

A day before the third Test match, an interview with ESPNCricinfo Sanjay Manjrekar stated that, “Yes, inexperienced batting lineup, but I think the quality that’s needed in this particular series are just Indian batters who play spin well. There’s where you think Sarfaraz Khan suddenly makes his case very strong.

"His long-term form should count for something and carry more weight than Devdutt Padikkal, who has had a tremendous run recently. Sarfaraz Khan appears to be an exciting batter for India to face the English spinners. The better spin player plays.” Sanjay Manjrekar stated.

"I don’t think Padikkal’s being left-handed will help his case because India has Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.”

Dhurv Jurel should come in for KS Bharat - Sanjay Manjrekar

Meanwhile Devdutt Padikkal has scored 151 runs and 36 runs against Tamil Nadu for Karnatak in the current Ranji Trophy game. He also scored 193 runs against Punjab and 103 runs against Goa.

For India A against England Lions, he has a decent scored. While playing 31 first-class matches he has scored 2227 with an average of 44.54. He has scored 6 hundreds and has 12 half-centuries to his name.

Sanjay Manjrekar opined that Dhruv Jurel should make debut in third Test against England over KS Bharat. As KS Bharat seems to struggle with bat in the first two Test against England.

 KS Bharat has scored only 92 runs in the first two games. Till now he has played seven Test games and has managed to score only 221 runs and his average of 20.09. Dhurv Jurel has scored 7090 runs from 15 first class games with an average of 46.67. He also has one hundred and five half-centuries under his belt.