Former Indian cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, praised India’s red-ball success overseas. He has compared the team with the historic Pakistani team as well. According to him, the ‘world-class’ pace batteries is a major reason for India’s recent success in the overseas nation.
After two successive series wins Down Under, the Indian team won 2-1 in an unfinished five-match series in England. And, they ended the year 2021 with a memorable Test win at Centurion for the very first time. For Manjrekar, it came on the back of outstanding pacers in the team and he found this similar to what Pakistan used to have in the 90’s era with legends like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar among a few as well.
While talking about that, Sanjay Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo: “One thing that has changed in recent 5-6 years for the Indian team, which has been a rare instance for India. India’s overseas success comes because India now has the luxury of having three world class seam bowlers. It has had a huge impact.”
He further added: “If you look at the history of Test cricket, earlier when Pakistan used to win outside their country, they too had 3 world class seamers. And now India find themselves in the same condition. These are good signs for Indian cricket.”
The pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammad Siraj are doing well for India. Jointly, they picked up 16 out of 20 wickets in their recent win against South Africa in Centurion.
Team management is backing Rahane: Sanjay Manjrekar
Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar believes the team management should consider Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer in the playing XI. Both players were sidelined to give another chance to the experienced campaigner in Rahane and Pujara. The third Test will begin on January 3 in Johannesburg.
He added: “The team management is backing Rahane. India have won the first Test, and Rahane scored 48 runs in the first innings as well. So he might get another shot. But they should also think about Vihari and Shreyas Iyer. The more chances Rahane gets, the fewer chances the other guys will have. So this needs to be discussed.”
“Pujara and Kohli’s form is understandable and they will get opportunities. But Rahane’s poor form has been going on for some time now. So there’ll be pressure on Rahane to keep his place in the side,” concluded Sanjay Manjrekar.
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