Sanjay Manjrekar believes that India should consider including young batsman Tilak Varma in the playing XI for their opening match against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023. The former Indian cricketer points out that India’s probable XI consists of six right-handed batters among the top seven, which he sees as a big concern.
Recently India played a three-match T20I series against Ireland in which the team has won the series 2-0. Before it, India played a five-match T20I series against West Indies in which team India won it by 2-3. Now Rahul Dravid along with captain Rohit Sharma will look to gain victory in Asia Cup as well.
While speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar picks his playing XI for the match against Pakistan which will be played on September 2.
Manjrekar said,”My three seamers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Hardik Pandya would be my fourth seamer. My spinners would be Jadeja and Kuldeep. My opener would be Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. No. 3 batter would be Virat Kohli. KL Rahul would play because he is the keeper.”
He also talked about the inclusion of Tilak Varma into the playing XI and gave a reason behind it. He said,”Either Shreyas Iyer or Tilak Varma could play [in the middle-order]. I am saying this because in India’s first-choice side XI, the first seven (six) batters, including Hardik Pandya, are all right-handers. Somewhere, India will have to fit in a left-hander in Tilak Varma. This is a problem India has.”
Sanjay Manjrekar’s Indian playing XI for the Asia Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer/ Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
