‘Indian batters are becoming NRIs’ – Sanjay Manjarekar:Criticised India Gautam Gambhir after Guwahati Test debacle; says, ‘Performance falling due to lack of practice’

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has criticised India batters’ poor preparation on home pitches and their habit of playing more on foreign tours. He said on Friday that Indian batters are becoming NRIs. Manjrekar said about Team India’s poor batting – ”Skills like footwork, defence and strike rotation need to be improved. It will be very important to focus on domestic matches before the next Test series.” Actually, Indian batting is failing against South Africa. The team has crossed the 200-run mark only once in two Test matches. Not only this, but only two batsmen from the team could score fifties. Due to poor batting, Team India was clean-swept by South Africa on Indian soil after 25 years. Manjrekar said- Indian players’ experience in domestic cricket has become limited. After being selected for the team, they hardly play domestic matches and first-class cricket. They spend most of their time on foreign tours. This leads to their lack of experience with domestic pitches and spin bowling. Manjrekar said while giving an example- Players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have mostly played matches abroad in the last two years. While in India, they didn’t get as many opportunities. Manjrekar said – ‘Batting is failing due to lack of preparation’
Manjrekar says that the biggest reason for India’s batting failure is a lack of preparation. He said that Indian players perform well in domestic first-class cricket, but after being selected in the team, they leave domestic matches. This is why when they play in India, they appear unfamiliar with the pitch and conditions. ‘Batting technique needs improvement’ – Manjrekar
Manjrekar also gave his opinion on technique. He said that aggressive play works against fast bowlers on foreign pitches. But on slow and spinning pitches, the stand and deliver style of play doesn’t work. According to Manjrekar, skills like footwork, defence and strike rotation are necessary for success on turning tracks. Batsmen cannot achieve success through aggressive play alone. Former cricketers held Gambhir responsible
Before Manjrekar, former Indian cricketers like Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad and Saba Karim had held Gambhir responsible. Atul Wassan had even demanded Gambhir’s removal. India won’t play a Test series for 8 months
The Indian team will not play any Test matches for the next 8 months. The team’s next Test match will be against Sri Lanka in their home country in August 2026. There, Sri Lanka’s spin pitches will test Indian batters.