IND vs SA: KL Rahul will compete for a middle-order spot with Shreyas Iyer, says Sanjay Manjrekar

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IND vs SA: Following India's Test series against South Africa, Sanjay Manjrekar has reckoned that KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer would be competing for a middle-order spot once Rishabh Pant is back in the Indian Test squad.

Manjrekar heaped praise on KL Rahul who scored a hundred in the first Test match in Johannesburg, saying that the wicketkeeper-batter values all the three forms of cricket.

The former India cricketer added that Rishabh Pant would take back the wicket-keeping responsibilities once he is back in the Indian Test squad, and that would create a competition between KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer for a middle-order spot.

"I think he's a guy who cares about every format. You know how he's built to value every opportunity that he gets after he got that 100. You know, I am looking two years from now and I thought he's really competing with Shreyas Iyer for a batting position in the middle order because the moment Rishabh Pant is fit, he becomes your keeper batter, and there's great quality to Rishabh Pant batting and keeping as well," Manjrekar said on Star Sports after the match.

Manjrekar said KL Rahul had put India in control of the first Test with his hundred in the first innings, and the visitors would have won the match had Dean Elgar not stood tall for his 185 which helped India post 400 in reply to India's 245 in the first innings.

"That innings was just incredible (First Test hundred). Unfortunately, you know, Dean Elgar got a 180, they got 400 because we at the time thought that 260 was gonna be enough. And that was the moment if India could have latched onto, there would have been a series win in South Africa," he further added.

India won the second Test in Cape Town by seven wickets inside two days to level the 2-Test series 1-1 on Thursday. India's next text assignment is against England at home from January.