"There's always that gates open for the bowlers" - Former India batter points out chink in Karun Nair's armor after Day 2 of 2025 ENG vs IND 3rd Test

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out some weaknesses in Karun Nair's batting style during Day 2 of the Lord's Test between India and England on Friday (July 11). Although, Nair's return to Test cricket was a much celebrated one, his returns have put a question mark on his place in the XI.

Ahead of the Lord's Test, Nair registered scores of 0, 20, 31 & 26, highlighting his struggle to convert his start into a big knock. Meanwhile, the right-hander got off to a bright start at the 'Home of Cricket' and was looking in good touch.

Despite being well set, Karun Nair nicked off Ben Stokes' good length delivery and was caught at the slips by Joe Root. He scored 40 off 62 balls, while scoring four fours. Although, this was the finest knock of Nair in this series, he failed to live up to the promise of a big knock, which is expected from a senior batter like him.

During his discussion on ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar opined that Nair's batting style can be credited to his low scores in the series. As per the 59-year-old, the bowlers are exploiting Nair's habit of playing with hard hands and keeping him away from reaching a three-figure mark.

"With the kind of batting style that he has, he did the best he could. I love the way how he tackled that line outside off, but somewhere his deep-rooted instinct of playing sometimes with hard hands and loosely, he's just making things difficult for him to cash in from converting his 20s, 30s to a big 100. So, there's always that gates open for the bowlers to sneak in."

---

Sanjay Manjrekar on whether Shubman Gill's dismissal would hurt India's chances in ENG vs IND 3rd Test

Sanjay Manjrekar also shared his views on how captain Shubman Gill's failure in the third Test could affect the Indian team. With over 600 runs in the series, Gill was expected to continue his good form and lead from the front for the visitors.

However, Gill was dismissed on 16 off 44 by Chris Woakes in the final session. But, the pair of KL Rahul (53*) and Rishabh Pant (19*) have built an unbeaten 37-run stand to infuse confidence into the side, as they are at 145/3 in pursuit of 387.

Manjrekar isn't too optimstic about India's chances on Day 3, as he feels the England bowling attack is much stronger in this fixture. Nevertheless, he advised the Ben Stokes-led side to be wary of Pant, who can play counter-attacking innings under pressure. He said:

"Definitely, because the runs are not gonna come very easily. That's where Rishabh Pant is gonna be important for India. But, I think there is a little more quality in English bowling attack and it's a pitch where you would think, you don't 500-600 runs to dominate. A lesser score can also have you on the same position."