Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has suggested changes to the Indian cricket team ahead of their 2nd match of the ongoing ODI series against the South African cricket team. The Indian cricket team suffered a 31-run defeat at the hands of the Temba Bavuma-led outfit in the first ODI. While the Indian team has chased down 300+ targets in the past, they fell short by 31 runs while chasing a 297-run target yesterday. Suryakumar Yadav was not present in the playing XI.
According to Sanjay Manjrekar, the Indian cricket team’s middle-order was a little thin because Venkatesh Iyer and Rishabh Pant batted at the number five and six positions. Both left-handed batters can turn the game upside down once they get going, which is why the Indian cricket team picked the two southpaws in the playing XI. However, both failed to fire.
While Venkatesh Iyer scored only two runs off seven deliveries, Pant got out after scoring 16 runs off 22 deliveries. Half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Shardul Thakur went in vain as the Indian cricket team conceded a 0-1 lead to the South African cricket team.
I’ve maintained that it (India’s middle-order) looked a little short on batting: Sanjay Manjrekar feels Suryakumar Yadav should be picked
Sanjay Manjrekar discussed the first ODI between the Indian cricket team and the South African cricket team on ESPNCricinfo’s show, where he spoke at length about the team combination of the visitors. Here’s what the former Indian batter had to say:
“I’ve maintained that it (India’s middle-order) looked a little short on batting when you have somebody like a Rishabh Pant batting at 5 and a Venky (Venkatesh) Iyer in a very unfamiliar role. There wasn’t much of a threat down the order so I thought they should have made a place for somebody like Suryakumar Yadav.”
