IND vs BAN: Sanjay Manjrekar lashes out on Hardik Pandya! Says he can't trust the vice-captain's ability

Sanjay Manjrekar launched a scathing attack on India vice-captain Hardik Pandya, claiming that the latter can't be India's 5th bowler at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

This was not the first time that Hardik Pandya received a stick from a former Indian cricketer in the year of 2024. The All-rounder's bad times seem to have started after he rolled his feet over the ball during a league game in last year's 50-over World Cup. First India lost the WC final, then he was announced as the new Mumbai Indians captain from IPL 2024 onwards.

Then Hardik Pandya failed to recover from his injury and missed 4-5 months of cricket before staging his comeback through IPL 2024. It was during the tournament that the Baroda-man came across plenty of trolling and abuse from the MI fans. The outside noise affected his own performance as well as his captaincy skills.

He collected just 11 wickets this season, scored 216 runs, and led MI to a 10th-spot finish in the recently concluded Indian Premier League season.

Why Sanjay Manjrekar doesn't want Hardik Pandya to be India's 5th bowler?

While speaking in a Q&A session with the fans on Star Sports, Sanjay Manjrekar was asked if Hardik Pandya can be trusted as India's 5th bowling option. Manjrekar, in his even so blunt attitude, claimed that he doesn't see Pandya as the 5th bowler in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies.

Sanjay Manjrekar would rather have Hardik Pandya as the 6th bowler, all because of the minimal amount of bowling he has done and also concerning his fitness. The India Vice-captain has anyways been a very injury-prone player and the team management will hope that he doesn't end up getting ruled out just like he was in Cricket World Cup last year.

"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 with fitness." - Sanjay Manjrekar said via Star Sports.

Manjrekar backs India to play an extra spinner

Since Sanjay Manjrekar doesn't want Hardik Pandya to be India's 5th bowling option, the former cricketer went with a spin-heavy bowling line-up. He believes that the Indian pace battery lacks depth, something that can even backfire on Rohit Sharma's side. Manjrekar also added that the scenario would have been the opposite if Mohammed Shami was fit and fine to feature.

However, with that not going to be the case, Sanjay Manjrekar suggested the Rahul Dravid-led management to play an extra spinner. India have spin bowlers in the form of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.

"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. 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 rather go with an extra spinner." - Manjrekar concluded.