Sanjay Manjrekar urges middle order to step up before the 2019 World Cup

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has been impressed with the way India has played in the ODI series against the Proteas so far. After losing the first two matches in the Test series, India registered a morale-boosting victory in the final Test. It gave them much-needed confidence for the limited-overs fixtures.

In his column for the Times of India, Manjreka lauded Team India for showing their fighting character on a very difficult pitch in Johannesburg.

“There is a lot of optimism around Indian cricket at the moment,” Manjrekar wrote.

Earlier, India won the final Test by 63 runs to finish the series on a high.

“That fighting spirit shown in the last Test on a dangerous pitch despite having lost the series got a lot of admiration for Virat (Kohli) and his boys from the fans. Their dominance in the One-day series that followed does not surprise me. India are a very good 50-overs side and unlike in Tests, in all conditions,” Manjrekar pointed.

The Kulcha Effect:

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been one of the major reasons behind India’s exceptional performance in the ODI series.

Together, the Indian wrist spinners have scalped 33 wickets in the series so far. Sanjay Manrekar has lauded the spectacular efforts of spinning duo.

“The two young wrist spinners have made such an incredible difference that this Indian side is virtually unrecognisable from the one that played last year. Now there are as many bowling heroes as there are batting ones, a rare scenario indeed in Indian cricket,” Manjrekar wrote.

Middle Order Woes

However, the Indian middle order hasn’t been in the greatest of touches. Even coach Ravi Shastri has stated that the team is not yet ready for the 2019 World Cup.

“In Rohit (Sharma), Shikhar (Dhawan) and Virat, India have a pretty good top three. In (Hardik) Pandya, they have a good floater and big hitter. Search should be on though for at least two middle-order batsmen who can play the modern 360-degree game. Somehow, India is still a bit traditional when they bat in T20s,” the 52-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator Manjrekar suggested.

“To set and chase down massive targets, India needs a bit of audacity in the batting. And yes, maybe a couple of seam bowlers too as back up to Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah. I like the look of Jaydev Unadkat,” he maintains.

India will be playing a triangular T20I series in Sri Lanka which also features Bangladesh.

Manjrekar feels the series will serve as a chance for India to find their solution to the middle order woes.

“This team is showing potential to come out with more merit than earlier teams in this ongoing long overseas phase of international cricket. In between these major foreign tours, they will have some respite though in the form of cricket in Asia like the Nidahas trophy in Sri Lanka to mark 70 years of Sri Lankan independence,” Manjrekar asserts.

“This will be a T20 triangular featuring the hosts, Bangladesh and of course India. I see this tournament as a great chance for India to plug a few holes that don’t seem very obvious when you are winning but are there nevertheless. With these holes filled India should be watertight as a team, and be formidable in all formats which is every nation’s dream,” he wrote.

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