Virat Kohli also feels the need to have a batsman in the XI who can bowl few overs.
Indian cricket team suffered a 66-run defeat in the first ODI of the three-match ODI series against Australia on Friday (November 27) at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
In the opening tour game, India lacked a sixth bowling option with Hardik Pandya playing as a specialist batsman at No. 6 in the first ODI and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence led the captain Virat Kohli to having only 5 bowling options at his disposal against the mighty Australians.
The team combination failed badly in the first ODI and Team India undoubtedly felt the presence of a second all-rounder in the XI and even Kohli was jokingly asked whether he'll consider rolling his arm over in the upcoming games in the post-match presentation, as the Men in Blue conceded a mammoth total of 374/6 in 50 overs, and eventually faced a big defeat against Australia in Sydney.
In the first ODI, barring Mohammad Shami (5.90), all Indian bowlers conceded runs in excess of 6 runs/over and even leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal broke his own record for the most expensive spell by an Indian spinner in a ODI, conceding 89 runs in ten overs against Australia.
Following the defeat, Sanjay Manjrekar, former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, has stressed on the need to have someone in the line-up who can bowl some overs to assist the bowlers and even went on to suggest Shreyas Iyer to develop his spin-bowling skills.
Iyer, who is also a leg spinner, has four First-class wickets and five List A wickets to his name and Manjrekar feels he can be a viable part-timer for the Indian cricket team for which Kohli has talked about after the first ODI loss to Australia.
On Twitter, Manjrekar replied to a query, “He must... absolutely must, develop that skill. Will enhance his chances to keep his place, it will also serve India well. Just 3/4 overs needed off pure batsmen.”
Meanwhile, Kohli had said at the post-match presentation ceremony, “Well, we'll have to find out ways of getting a few overs from the few part-timers that we have in the side. Unfortunately, someone like Hardik (Pandya) is not ready to bowl at the moment and we'll have to accept that. We'll have to work around it and we don't really have any all-round options as such right now.”
Noteworthy, the second ODI will be played at the same venue (SCG) on Sunday, November 29.
(With PTI Inputs)