India were defeated by 5 wickets in the first match of the five-Test series against England. The bowling attack looked pretty weak duiring the match. However, the one bowler who did impress and remained a class above the rest was Jasprit Bumrah, who picked up yet another five-wicket haul in the first innings. The new Test captain Shubman Gill, too, was in fine form. as he slammed 147, becoming the youngest Indian to hit a century on his Test captaincy debut. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has however named KL Rahul as the player that Indian cricket needs badly.

KL Rahul was India's top scorer in the second innings, as he slammed a well-made 137. In an interaction with ESPN Cricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar stated that Raghul cannot just be a one-hundred wonder. He needs to carry his form right through the series. He also said that he is confident that Risha h Pant would carry his form for the rest of the series.

"Rishabh Pant enjoys Test matches. He has not got enough runs. So he is hungry. I see Pant carrying his form, but there is another senior batter in the team, who now has got no choice but to carry his form right through the series. Indian cricket needs him badly, and KL Rahul cannot be a one-hundred wonder or a one-Test-match performer," Manjrekar said.

Rishabh Pant slammed 134 and 118 in the two innings of the first Test, thus becoming the first wicketkeeper-batter in history to hit centuries in both innings of a Test against England. Sanjay Manjrekar said that scoring hundreds in the space of 48 hours is the hallmark of an exceptional talent.

"Any batter who gets two hundreds in a Test match, it takes a lot out of you mentally, not so much physically, getting a hundred in the first innings, and 48 hours later, you have the same kind of reserve to get another hundred. So that is a hallmark of an exceptional player," he added