IND vs SA: Sanjay Manjrekar Wants Umran Malik To Replace Axar Patel In The Playing XI Of 3rd T20I vs South Africa

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar wants Jammu and Kashmir express pacer Umran Malik to make his international debut in the 3rd T20I against South Africa.

The third match of the five-match T20I series between India and South Africa will be played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, June 14, and South Africa are leading the series by 2-0.

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During an interaction on Sports 18, Sanjay Manjrekar said that India should not make wholesale changes to the playing XI for the third T20I. He added that India don’t have many exciting options on the bench as the players who are part of the playing XI are “pretty exciting themselves”. He asserted:

“Not yet. India have been unfortunate that they have batted first and batting second is always an advantage, no matter what people say. You have that slightly better batting conditions because of the coolness of the night and stuff like that. So India will be hoping that they bat second in one of the games.

“But then there is a need for maybe a couple of changes here and there. There aren’t too many exciting options because the guys who are playing are pretty exciting themselves, but I would make maybe one change if not two.”

Have Umran Malik purely because he has the ability to get wickets in the middle – Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar further said that the Indian spinners have failed miserably in the first two T20Is against South Africa and they have failed to do the job in the middle-overs.

He said: “The interesting thing is that two T20Is have happened, India have played two spinners and we have got just two wickets to show. So the spinners haven’t got the wickets and India when they win T20Is, they generally do so because the spinners do the job in the middle and that hasn’t happened.”

The 56-year-old added that the left-arm spinner Axar Patel will be effective on rank turners and the pitches used in the ongoing series are not spin-friendly so India should get Umran in the playing XI, who can get breakthroughs in middle-overs.

He asserted: “So here is my recommendation. Have somebody like an Umran Malik to come in because pitches aren’t rank turners. If you have rank turners, maybe Axar Patel is a more effective bowler because India needs wickets. So have Umran Malik purely because he has the ability to get wickets in the middle.”

Also Read: IND vs SA: Sanjay Bangar Suggests Two Changes In India’s Playing XI vs South Africa For The 3rd T20I

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