Former Indian World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth lambasted Delhi Capitals middle-order batter Manish Pandey over his form in the ongoing Indian Premier League. The 33-year-old has scored only 97 runs in his four games at a strike rate of 121.25 in IPL 2023.
Former BCCI chairman of selector Srikkanth is currently part of Star Sports in the broadcasting of IPL 2023, refused to answer about the Karnataka batter Manish Pandey, stating that he doesn’t want to talk about him and said that should not be even part of the Delhi Capitals side.
Australian TV presenter Neroli Meadows asked about Srikkanth’s opinion about the underperforming Manish Pandey role for the David Warner-led side, to which the former Indian opener replied that they are no point discussing him and wanted Axar Patel to bat in the higher in the order.
“Why are we talking about Manish Pandey? I don’t want to talk about him. The guy shouldn’t even be on the team. Let’s talk about Axar Patel, and how he has been in the form of his life and deserves to bat higher,” Krishnamachari Srikkanth said.
David Warner-led side had a tragic start to the league losing five games on the trot before winning their 1st match against KKR on Thursday. The Australian southpaw has been the lone bright spot for the Delhi Capitals side in the batting with Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Manish Pandey, and Lalit Yadav collectively failing for the Delhi team.
If I Was The Chairman Of Selectors, He Wouldn’t Have Played – Krishnamachari Srikkanth
The former Tamilnadu cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth said that he doesn’t want to talk about the Karnataka skipper and further added that he would not select him in the team if he was the chairman of the selector he would have not got into the side.
” No, I don’t want to talk about him. He shouldn’t be in this team. If I was the chairman of selectors, he wouldn’t have played,” Srikkanth added.
Manish Pandey was the first Indian batter to score a century in the cash-rich league and has played for Men in Blue in white ball format but could replicate his form at the highest level. The 33-year-old have played seven franchise in the Indian Premier League, but could not make an impact in the league. In IPL 2022, Pandey scored only 88 runs in six games.
Delhi Capitals will take on 2016 Champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in their 7th league game on April 24 on Monday and they will look to build on their winning moment against the Aiden Markram-led side.