Australia vs India 2018: Sanjay Manjrekar Suggests India To Open With Hanuma Vihari

As expected, Indian National Cricket Team was troubled with their openers for the first couple of Test matches in Australia. The injury of Prithvi Shaw was a big dent while the management called Mayank Agarwal to fill in the shoes. Meanwhile, the cricketer-turned-analyst Sanjay Manjrekar suggests Hanuma Vihari for the opening role.

Now, India got Mayank Agarwal, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Hanuma Vihari and Parthiv Patel in the ranks to open for India. Choosing two among them, Manjrekar believes Murali Vijay and Vihari would do the job.

I Personally feel Mayank Agarwal should be given chance – Sanjay Manjrekar

Besides saying that Hanuma Vihari is a perfect choice, Manjrekar feels that Mayank Agarwal should be given his debut cap. Further, he added that Murali Vijay should continue in the role, as he got a decent batting technique.

He went on to say that Vihari got a lovely technique to deal with the bowling of Australia. He believes that Vihari is a proper top-order batsman, who got a great temperament to play the long innings for the Indian side.

“These are Australian conditions. Hanuma Vihari, when you see him bat, you get an impression that this is a guy, who has a good technique. His scoring shots are straight in front of the wicket and he seems calm temperamentally. He is clearly a batsman who has the game to bat at (number) 1, 2 and 3. So the sense is there having Vihari bat at the top of the order,” he was quoted as saying by IndiaTV said.

“Even if you play Mayank Agarwal, we should not have high expectations. Because, it is extremely tough for an Indian batsman to straightaway go into a Test match on an Australian pitch. Especially, at the top of the order, where the Kookaburra ball does a lot. So if India does not want to take that risk and put undue pressure on Agarwal, then Vihari is an option (to open the innings). But I will personally still go with Mayank Agarwal and Murali Vijay,” he added.

Well, it would be interesting to see whether India considers the suggestion by Sanjay Manjrekar. If Hanuma Vihari gets the opener role, India can embed Hardik Pandya in the remaining lower-middle-order slot.