Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was recently dropped by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from their commentary panel. It stirred a lot of debate on social media; some fans welcomed the decision while some were against it.
Now, Manjrekar is again in the news, but this time for not any controversial reason.
On Monday, the cricketer-turned-commentator took to Twitter and interacted with his fans. In the process, a fan asked Manjrekar which players he would pick for India’s no. 4 position and the all-rounder in the squad if he was a selector.
“Your Number 4 Indian batsman and all-rounder selection for T20WC?” the Twitter user asked.
Your Number 4 Indian batsman and allrounder selection for T20WC? #TalkCricketWithSanjay
— aravinth (@AravinthD2) March 23, 2020
While responding to the question, Manjrekar took the names of Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya. For the number 4 position, he backed Iyer, and similarly, for the all-rounder place, Manjerakar picked Hardik.
“Shreyas and Hardik, respectively,” tweeted the 54-year-old.
Shreyas and Hardik respectively. https://t.co/kvYrC6nTv0
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 23, 2020
Iyer has been performing well at number four spot for Team India. He was the leading run-scorer in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand.
The 25-year-old batsman accumulated 217 runs in 3 innings at an average of 72.33 and a strike rate of 95.59. Iyer was also impressive in the T20I series, where he clubbed 153 runs in 5 innings at an average of 51 and a strike rate of 131.90.
Hardik, on the other hand, has been away from active cricket since his surgery in October. The star all-rounder was added in the squad for the three-ODIs against South Africa, but the series was called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In another question, a fan asked, whether India should stick with KL Rahul at number five in ODIs or does he find any other batsman that can be fit for this position.
“Sir, We saw KL Rahul batting at No:5 in the ODIs recently, and he was successful at the position, Do you think India should stick with KL at 5? Or Can you find other batsman other than KL to be right in that position at 5?” the fan wrote.
https://twitter.com/rithin_2020/status/1241952712490496007
Manjrekar, who had played 37 Tests and 74 ODIs for India, responded to the question and said at the current moment, Rahul is completely fine, but India should keep searching for batsmen like Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh.
For the moment he is the right fit. But we must keep looking for a Raina and Yuvi kind of batsman when Rahul eventually moves to the top. https://t.co/ZNg3Lc2X1c
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 23, 2020
