Sanjay Manjrekar claims India will demolish Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup 2024 clash

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels India will be at its best in the upcoming Women's T20 World Cup 2024 match against Sri Lanka. Manjrekar believes that the Indian team have gotten used to the conditions in Dubai after playing both their games at the same venue.

India and Sri Lanka will face each other on October 9 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Women in Blue have played two matches so far in which they have won and lost a game each.

India lost their opening fixture to New Zealand by a crushing margin of 58 runs in a disappointing performance with both bat and ball. However, they made a good comeback against Pakistan by winning the match by 6 wickets.

Also read: Najmul Hossain Shanto shockingly compares Mayank Yadav to Bangladesh net bowlers

Sanjay Manjrekar backs India to beat Sri Lanka

While speaking on the Star Sports show 'Game Plan', Sanjay Manjrekar was confident of India defeating Sri Lanka in their next Group A match. He feels that India have a good overall record against Sri Lanka and will be strong favorites here.

"I feel India should win this match. India are a good team. The top three teams in this group are India, New Zealand and Australia. Sri Lanka might have defeated India in the Asia Cup but India's track record against Sri Lanka is good," Sanjay Manjrekar said.

In the Women's Asia Cup final played in the month of July this year, Sri Lanka stunned India by defeating them by 8 wickets and 8 balls to spare. It was a shocking result as India were the hot favorites going into the final.

The upcoming game will be the first match between these two teams since the Asia Cup 2024 final and it promises to be a blockbuster. India will be aiming to avoid making mistakes in this much important game.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar also reckons that India would have gotten used to the pitch in Dubai after playing their first two matches here. He believes that Sri Lanka will struggle once India gets the wicket of their captain and talismanic opener Chamari Athapaththu early.

Sanjay Manjrekar hopes India to be "at their best" against Sri Lanka

Sanjay Manjrekar believes that India will be at its best in this match and will have the advantage of playing their third game at the same venue.

"The entire team would have gotten totally used to the Dubai pitch by then. If you can get Sri Lanka's top-order player Athapaththu out early, Sri Lanka does not have that much batting depth as well," The cricketer-turned-commentator opined.

"They (Sri Lanka) have a good left-arm spinner with the name (Sugandika) Kumari. So she might come very early to bowl against India. However, I believe that India will be more ready while playing at the same venue for the third time. Maybe you will see India at their best in that match," Sanjay Manjrekar added.

Athapaththu was the wrecker-in-chief in the Asia Cup final as she smashed 61 off 43 balls to take the game away from India. Sri Lanka rely heavily on her which has been a cause of concern for them.

India's current form

Currently, India are fourth in Group A with one win and one defeat. The low net run rate is a cause of concern for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team. India cannot afford a slip-up at this moment and will be looking to produce its best performance in every game from now onwards.

The Women in Blue will play its next game against defending champions Australia at Sharjah which is expected to be their toughest challenge so far.