Sanjay Manjrekar Makes Surprising Remark On India's T20 Stars
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar termed it a "mystery" how the IPL generation has been able to seamlessly adapt to the demands of Test cricket
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar termed it a "mystery" how the IPL generation has been able to seamlessly adapt to the demands of Test cricket, comparing the modern players' transition from T20s to the longest format to pop singers attempting classical ragas. Speaking on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan, Manjrekar marvelled at the ability of the current generation, which has grown up playing T20 cricket, to make the significant technical adjustments required for red-ball cricket.
"Modern pop singers, if they are asked to do classical singing, ragas, then it will be very difficult. But these people are doing that. It is a mystery to me that the generation of the IPL, the generation of T20 cricket, can play such good Test cricket. In both the game of ball and the game of gain," Manjrekar said.
He was particularly impressed by the adaptability of modern batters, given the vastly different demands of T20 and Test cricket.
"More so in the case of batting because there is a lot of difference between T20 batting and Test batting," he added.
With India's young squad featuring several IPL and T20 stars currently engaged in a two-Test series against Sri Lanka, Manjrekar's observations underline the changing nature of the modern cricketer, who is increasingly expected to switch between vastly different formats with ease.
The ability to shift from the aggressive tempo of T20 cricket to the patience, technique, and concentration demanded in Tests has become a defining feature of the current generation of Indian players.