Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar. Credit: Twitter

KL Rahul, on Tuesday, scored a sensational century in the second warm-up match against Bangladesh to all but seal the number four spot.  India were 50/2 when Rahul came out to bat but wickets of Virat Kohli and Vijay Shankar saw Bangladesh bounce back. India were 102/4 and the game could have gone anywhere from that point.

However, Rahul and MS Dhoni shared a huge partnership of 164 runs for the fifth wicket to bail India out of trouble. Dhoni scored a century too as India posted 359 for 7 before bowling out Bangladesh for just 264. But while Rahul has most probably sealed his spot in the playing eleven he did not find a place in former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar‘s playing eleven for the game against South Africa.

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Sanjay Manjrekar Leaves Out KL Rahul From His Playing XI For South Africa Game
KL Rahul (Credits: Getty)

Talking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said that it’s not Rahul, but Vijay Shankar, whom India should pick to bat at no. 4. The ex-cricketer-turned-commentator picked Kedar Jadhav at 5 while leaving out  Dinesh Karthik. Jadhav definitely brings more to the table because of his bowling but he is coming off an injury and Karthik’s finishing abilities are probably better than his.

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Manjrekar backed his decision to include Jadhav by saying that since Hardik Pandya is not certain to bowl his full quota of 10 overs every game, the team needs Jadhav to complete the fifth bowler’s quota if needed.

In the bowling department, Manjrekar left own Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has been a regular feature in India’s team in the limited-overs format. Manjrekar instead opted for Mohammed Shami to partner Jasprit Bumrah. Unsurprisingly, he picked both the wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, in his XI, thus leaving out Ravindra Jadeja.

Sanjay Manjrekar Leaves Out KL Rahul From His Playing XI For South Africa Game
Manjrekar picked Shami over Bhuvneshwar (Credits: Getty Images)

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India will start their World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5 in Southampton.

Sanjay Manjrekar’s XI:

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal