The former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels that the inclusion of two senior members of the India team, their captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, in the squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America, suggest that the team are not too keen to trust their younger players.
The ‘Men in Blue’ are unbeaten at the moment in the ninth edition of the competition, as they blew away the three teams- Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA in the group stage, including their wash-out result against Canada, while their two consecutive wins over Afghanistan and Bangladesh have put them in a serious position of qualifying into the semis.
The team has looked well balanced with the bowling department doing the lion’s share of the job on the critical surfaces in New York, where run-scoring was quite tough. In their last game in Antigua, the Blue Brigade showed the perfect way of playing the shortest format of the game, in this modern generation.
‘They still wanted some experience around for an ICC event’- Sanjay Manjrekar
The former batter for the Indian team, Sanjay Manjrekar observes that the 2007 champions, who went to South Africa with a young team under a new captain and came on top, are not ready to commit on their young players in the recent T20 World Cup 2024.
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While writing his column for the Hindustan Times, the Mumbai-batter sheds light on how India are comfortable going with some experience in an ICC event, rather than looking at their youngsters.
‘It felt as though the Indian selectors played it safe with their selections for the T20 World Cup squad. In picking Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, it was a clear message that they were not yet ready to commit to the youth.’ Sanjay Manjrekar expressed in his column. ‘They still wanted some experience around for an ICC event.’
The likes of left-hand dynamic batter Abhishek Sharma did an excellent job at the opening position for the Sunrisers Hyderabad with 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.21, in the recently concluded Indian Premier League, while Ruturaj Gaikwad managed 583 runs at a strike rate of 141.16.
Even after picking the left-hand aggressive batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, India have kept him in the benches and decided to open with Kohli and Rohit, as the former will have the chance to go for the big shots, with only two fielders outside the 30-yard circle.
Sanjay Manjrekar observes that the senior members whom the selectors picked to see going with an attacking approach are going with an anchor role, as he pointed at Virat Kohli.
‘The brand of cricket India are playing in this WC is one we have never seen before, and something we are trying to come to terms with.’ The veteran wrote. ‘To Virat’s credit, for someone who doesn’t like getting out (something that can be a weakness in T20 cricket), he has also committed himself to taking risks regularly and seems okay, as of now, with getting out while taking those risks.’
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Despite being quite safe, he reckons that the approach for the Indian team in this competition has been quite refreshing and modern, as the batters are keeping on whacking the big shots, without much fear of getting dismissed.
‘The way India have batted so far conveys that even though selections have taken a more traditional and cautious route, the brand of cricket on show is going to be modern and dynamic.’ The 58-year-old cricket commentator Sanjay Manjrekar elaborated.
India will have a chance of going into their semifinal with an unbeaten run as they face Australia in their last ‘Super Eight’ game on June 24, at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, in St Lucia.