Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar. Credit: Twitter

Former Indian batsman and now turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has revealed his choice for the number four position in the World Cup. Manjrekar believes Vijay Shankar will be a better option for the troublesome number four position. The former right-handed batsman believes KL Rahul is well suited for the opening position.

However, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have done a great job while opening the batting. Thus, Rahul cannot get to bat at number one or two. Furthermore, Vijay Shankar has had the experience of batting in the middle order whereas KL Rahul hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to bat at number four.

Vijay Shankar, Laxmipathi Balaji
Vijay Shankar (Image Courtesy: Getty)

Vijay Shankar has the experience of batting in the middle order.

In fact, Rahul had a perfect chance to cement his place in the team. However, he could not get a big score in the warm-up match against New Zealand. The flamboyant batsman scored only six runs and thus added a question mark on his selection.

“I want to see Vijay Shankar begin with and see how he handles it. Because Rahul is more suited to No. 1 and 2. Very rarely he has batted at No 4, and when he did that, he did not look to me like a No 4. Rahul is a No 1 or 2 player who can be a replacement at the top,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.

Furthermore, Sanjay Manjrekar believes the number four batsman should be versatile in every situation. As Vijay Shankar has batted in the middle order, Manjrekar believes the Tamil Nadu batsman will be a better choice to play at the worrisome position.

Read More  Islamabad United Playing 11 vs Multan Sultans – PSL 2024 Final
India's probable 15-man squad for the 2019 World Cup
KL Rahul. Image Courtesy: Getty

Number four batter will need to be flexible – Sanjay Manjrekar.

“Why I said that because No 4 is a batsman who has to be fluid, who puts the ball into the gaps, handles spin well…and is wristy too. He has to have all the gears to handle situations like 20/2 or 220/2. Rahul always opened and Shankar has had a career in the middle-order. So, I will go with Vijay, to begin with,” Manjrekar added.

Meanwhile, Vijay Shankar has shown the promise to do well for the Indian team. He is a batsman who relies on timing and it would be interesting to note his performances in the World Cup. However, the rookie batsman doesn’t have experience under his belt which can work against him.

Also View : Top 10 most beautiful Cricket Couples.

The right-hander has thus far scored 165 runs in the nine matches he has played. Moreover, Shankar’s current form is also a worry as he had scored 244 runs in the 14 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Hence, the all-rounder will like to turn the tables in his favour.

Shankar was hit on the hand in the practice session by Khaleel Ahmed and didn’t play in the warm-up match against New Zealand, which India lost by six wickets. India will kickstart their World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5th at Southampton.

Read More  Watch- Virat Kohli's 1st public appearance in India after Akaay's birth says all is not well in team India

Cricket is my first love. I want to be a wordsmith. I want to weave magic with my words.