Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar isn't impressed with Mumbai Indians' (MI) strategy to use a left-right batting combination. He wants them to stop using it for some time after recent failures.
The defending champions are currently at number 7 on the IPL 2021 points table with only 4 wins in 10 matches. They would need to win all the remaining matches to have better chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
MI recently suffered a defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 54 runs. It was their third consecutive defeat in UAE after IPL 2021 resumed in the second phase.
Manjrekar feels the poor form of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, and Krunal Pandya is a major reason behind their batting trouble. “It’s a pretty unique scenario where they’ve got their three main players- Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, and to an extent, Krunal Pandya- looking really off-color. So, they might want to dump the left-hand right-hand combination,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
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Mumbai had decided to send Krunal up in the batting order after Kishan's dismissal, which allowed RCB to get away with Glenn Maxwell's overs. Manjrekar suggested MI to send Kieron Pollard up in the batting order for the next few matches.
“What happened today is because there was always a left-hander in that middle stage as a part of their left-right combo tactic, allowed Maxwell to bowl four overs. The left-hander was there because there was a leg-spinner operating, waiting to make his life difficult,” he said.
“But Chahal bowled a googly to get Kishan out. So, the leggie has another delivery that will make it tough for the lefty. I would request MI to send batters as per their self-confidence at the moment. No point in sending Krunal, who’s feeling the pressure. Maybe someone like Pollard could come up and MI can abandon the left-right combo at least for a couple of games,” Manjrekar added after Mumbai got bowled out for 111 runs against Bangalore.
(With ESPN Cricinfo Inputs)
