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Manjrekar's best performances were against Pakistan, against whom he had a Test average of 94 and two Test centuries. He made his double-century against Pakistan in Lahore. His first notable performance at the international level came in the 1989 series against the West Indies in the West Indies. He made a century against a powerful, menacing fast bowling attack and gave glimpses of his immense potential, which continued in the series against Pakistan in 1989. He scored a century and double century in that series and was instrumental in India drawing the series 0-0 against a bowling attack that consisted of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Imran Khan and leg spinner Abdul Qadir. This series cemented his position in the Indian side, but was unable to again reach these heights. He failed to make an impact on the 1991-92 away series in Australia after struggling against the Australian bowlers on fast, bouncy pitches. His next international century came after a 3 year gap against Test debutants Zimbabwe in 1992. He occupied the crease for several hours and saved India from an embarrassing defeat against a team which had just been awarded Test status. The Indian cricket team then travelled to South Africa for the South Africans' first Test series after the end of apartheid. India lost the Test series and performed poorly in the one day series in which Manjrekar failed to produce any big scores. When the team for the 1993 England series was announced, Manjrekar was dropped. India won this series convincingly and most Indian batsmen helped themselves to big scores on Indian conditions which they preferred. From this point onwards, Manjrekar was in and out of the side for the next 2 � 3 years, never assured of a settled existence. The emergence of young middle-order batsmen such as Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly effectively ended Manjrekar's chances of getting back into the team. After the selectors overlooked him for the 1997 series against the West Indies, Manjrekar bowed out of international cricket. |
