Sanjay Manjrekar shockingly claims he will be happy when India lose to New Zealand if..

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that India must test their bench strength in the final league match against New Zealand at Dubai. Sanjay Manjrekar has a clear message for head coach Gautam Gambhir to give the benched players a chance ahead of the highly important semi-finals.

India have played with the same team in both their matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan so far and produced desired results. However, the team has a chance to make some changes in their last match as they have already qualified for the semi-finals.

Also read: Australia or South Africa? Sunil Gavaskar openly reveals India's favourable opponent for Champions Trophy semi-final

Sanjay Manjrekar wants India to test bench strength

While speaking on JioHotstar, Sanjay Manjrekar advised Gautam Gambhir to test out players who haven't played in the two matches so far. Manjrekar feels the result of this match doesn't matter and hence, India should give chances to players like Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh.

“Try guys who aren't playing… Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep (Singh) as well (give them a game). Give your best. If you don't win the game, so be it. You play South Africa,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.

India have some highly skilled players like Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy on the bench. Sanjay Manjrekar wants these players to get a go ahead of the crucial semi-final stage.

India might make some changes

Mohammed Shami experienced some discomfort in his calf during the match against Pakistan and had to leave the field for some time. While he managed to come back and bowl more overs, the team management will be looking to manage their most experienced fast bowler carefully ahead of the semi-finals.

Shami did bowl with some intensity during India's latest practice session. But the team management has the option of including Arshdeep Singh in place of Mohammed Shami if the latter is not fully fit.

On the other hand, there were some fitness concerns regarding captain Rohit Sharma as well. Like Shami, Rohit also had to leave the field midway during the Pakistan game but came back after some treatment to field in the rest of the innings.

If the team management feels that Rohit is not fully fit, they can replace him with Rishabh Pant, whose exclusion from the Playing XI has been questioned a lot. India have preferred to go with KL Rahul as the first-choice wicketkeeper so far ahead of Rishabh Pant.

IND vs NZ to decide semi-final fixtures

India will face New Zealand in Dubai in the last group stage match of the Champions Trophy. The result of this match will decide the semi-final fixtures. If India wins this match, they will top Group A and will play Australia in the first semi-final on March 4.

In this case, South Africa will face New Zealand in the other semi-final at Lahore on March 5. However, if India loses their final group stage game, they will face South Africa in the first semi-final, leaving New Zealand and Australia to face off against each other in the other semi-final.