According to the former Indian cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar, Younger Indian squad would have been more beneficial for the T20 World Cup due to a lack of senior players ‘previous success.
He supports introducing fresh talents like Yashaswi Jaiswal instead of depending mostly on experienced players.
Without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in many T20 games last year, they have been recalled for this season based on experience or so it seems.
Manjrekar points out that now the default opening pair is Rohit and Kohli despite he would have wanted alternative options such as Jaiswal who is promising.
‘Ideally, I wouldn’t have gone that way; I’d have kept with a little bit more younger kind of, core set of players but selectors are committed to their icons Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli,’ said Manjrekar on Star Sports Press Room World Cup edition aired on Friday.
‘Because now they are in the team you can’t really have Virat Kohli batting at three because then you don’t get the full run off him. So now that means Rohit Sharma has got to open, so India sort of forced themselves into having only one type of combination – two right-handers,’ He added.
Manjrekar questions whether Yashaswi Jaiswal will make it into Indian XI?
“But unfortunately, Jaiswal will sit out. I would’ve completely gone with a whole new lot (and) then he would’ve had a lot more flair and it’d be something different,” he said.
“India also trusted the seniors which didn’t work over the years let’s hope they will do this time,” concluded Manjrekar.
In addition, according to him, Mohammed Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi will not pose much danger for Indian batsmen when they meet Pakistan next June 9th.
“Seven years ago was his last international T20 that Mohammed Amir played. What is he playing today? Shaheen Afridi is not the same bowler he was two years ago.
“India have handled him really well, if you remember the Asia Cup, even in the 50-overs World Cup we had a one-sided match. I do not see Pakistan as a major threat to India too, plus the names (of) Mohammed Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi. I do not think this is a problem for India,” he added.
Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan called left arm spinner Imad Wasim a danger man.
“He is not bad as a left-arm spinner with the new ball. He’s clever, bowls stump to stump and if it spins then he could be dangerous,” explained Irfan Pathan.
Manjrekar said Hardik Pandya is an excellent finisher.
“And my vote will always go to Hardik Pandya. I know he had pretty quiet IPL but just drop back into the last T20 World Cup that India played, and go to that last game, semis against England at Adelaide?
Hardik Pandya scored 60 off 30 balls at 190 and India would have got only 62 runs in their first 10 overs.
Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant are better than Shivam Dubey until we see him perform at the major events.
According to Pathan, both players will have different roles in the tournament.
This is another example where Manjrekar sees India being careful with their initial approach during a 2007 World Cup in West Indies which saw them exit early.
India has just got to get through this first round of matches because (in) 2007 (in) the West Indies there were some strange thing that happened. I think India could be up and running very quickly now. But then I wil also just wait for these Indian teams for the matches that really matter – semis and finals,” he said.
“World Cups in India are no longer about making it into the top four anymore; they are about playing good cricket at cricket’s showpiece event,” he added.
However, Rohit Sharma will do it regardless of his status. This was evident during the World Cup for ODI’s only. However when we talk about semi-finals and finals, I am worried about Virat actually.”
He, however said, “But Rohit Sharma will do that regardless of how big he is in stature because we saw that happening in ODIs world cup but my worry is always about Virat when it comes to semis and finals.”
