Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Test cricket is the least prioritised format of the sport for players as well as stakeholders. His comments came while reacting to India's 30-run defeat to South Africa in the first Test at the iconic Eden Gardens on Sunday, November 16.

On a rank turner, India were bowled out for just 93 in the fourth innings, chasing a target of 124 on Day 3. This was the second-lowest target which India failed to chase in Test matches.

While many have criticised the pitch for providing too much assistance to the spinners, Manjrekar believes that batters these days don't give enough priority to their defensive technique, and that is why they are lacking the ability to keep out good deliveries.

"The writing has been on the wall for a while and we weren't willing to pay attention to it. The fact of today for the last five years at least is that Test cricket has slowly but surely become the least favored format for everyone involved, especially the players coming through the ranks and most stakeholders as well. It's the last priority compared to T20s, private leagues and 50-overs cricket," Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle.

"So what happens is Test cricket is the only format that forces you to sharpen your defensive skills. That is why players until 2000 were so obsessed with wanting a good defense because Test cricket was the No. 1 format. Now because it's the third priority for a player, defense becomes the last priority for a player, which means a batter's ability to keep the good balls away is diminishing," he added.

It's just how cricket has panned out over the last few years: Manjrekar

Manjrekar feels that batters these days are more equipped to hit towering sixes, and defending good balls is a less popular art.

He suggested that pitches should be similar to those that hosted matches in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy earlier this year, where the contest between bat and ball was better.

"Ask them to hit the ball into the second tier of the stands and every batter today will be able to do it.

But to keep good balls away is a tough one for today's players and they cannot be blamed for that. It's just how cricket has panned out over the last few years," said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).

"So if you want to see a good Test series, the time has come for us to have pitches like we had in England. That's why we had a great series to watch. The pitches were flat, which means less good balls and less difficult balls to play for batters today and that is what you call adjusting to the changing times," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.