Former India batsman and renowned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar wasn’t pleased with Hardik Pandya’s inclusion in the Indian playing XI for the first ODI of the three-match series against Australia being played at Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday (November 27).
Manjrekar was not impressed with India’s decision to field Pandya solely as a batsman in XI against the mighty Australians. The ongoing first ODI is Pandya’s first international match since September 2019 – but the all-rounder is being used primarily as a batsman due to his back surgery, first in the IPL 2020 and now for India.
Manjrekar believes that Manish Pandey could have been a better option than Pandya because he is not bowling presently if India were to pick a pure batsman for their middle order, saying it’s unfair to Karnataka batsman since he was part of last ODI series in New Zealand.
Manjrekar said during the pre-match show: “Hardik Pandya not bowling and playing as a pure batsman is a bit of a gamble. Let’s hope it works out. Jadeja was to be expected. I just make selections based on the principles of having specialists but this is something that is understandable. That said, it’s unfair on Manish Pandey as a pure batsman to miss out on Hardik Pandya.”
Noteworthy, Pandya seems to be included in the XI on the basis of his performance for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 where he scored 281 runs from 14 games, but Pandey was extremely good for Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring 425 runs from 16 matches with three half-centuries in the UAE.
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
