Sanjay Manjrekar Warns Rohit on Hardik Pandya: Veteran commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has warned India captain Rohit Sharma about not pondering over using Hardik Pandya as a fifth bowler in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
India will kick-start their campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 on June 5 against Ireland before taking on Pakistan, United States, and Canada.
The Men In Blue have a tough dilemma to address about their batting order and the bowling combination. There is a likely chance that either one of Jaiswal or Dube will have to be benched because India can’t have Hardik Pandya bowl his entire quota of four overs. This is a point Manjrekar brought up when speaking about India’s bowling attack.
India are likely to go with two pacers—Jasprit Bumrah and one of Siraj or Arshdeep—and three spinners—Jadeja, Kuldeep, and Chahal/Axar. However, this means that India will have to sacrifice somewhere in the batting department.
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He Can’t Be Your Fifth Bowler: Sanjay Manjrekar Warns Rohit on Hardik Pandya
One thought is of playing Hardik Pandya as a fifth bowler, which would allow India to lengthen their batting. However, Manjrekar has strictly cautioned Rohit and Dravid against this tactic because of Pandya’s lack of fitness.
Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, the 58-year-old commentator said, “Hardik Pandya can’t be your fifth bowler. I think India must have the sixth bowler as Hardik Pandya, because of the amount of bowling he has done and his fitness. So, I’d rather go a little heavy on spin because, when you look at the seam quality of India, there’s not much depth.”
Manjrekar reckons it would be better to go with an extra spinner in the absence of the injured Mohammed Shami.
“If Mohammed Shami had been there, then it would have completely changed the look of India’s bowling attack. You have some good spinning options, so I’d rather go with an extra spinner,” the former India batsman added.
There is likely to be a toss-up between Chahal and Axar, especially when India play their matches in the West Indies, where the pitches are expected to be dry and spin-friendly. Although Axar is a like-for-like player to Jadeja, he provides batting down the order and was in good nick with the bat during the IPL 2024.
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