Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on Friday (24th June) said that with the kind of performances Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya have put for the team in the recent times, it’ll be difficult for Ravindra Jadeja to find a place in the playing XI for T20 World Cup 2022.
Team India is currently building up the strong side for the T20 World Cup 2022, which is set to take place in Australia later this year. They are providing chances to the youngsters and some seasoned campaigners have also made a staggering comeback in the side on the back of their performances in IPL 15.
The duo of Karthik and Pandya are also back in the side and have made their presence felt in the side. Both had a sensational campaign in the IPL 2022 and they continued their good form in the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa.
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They have retained their place in the side for the upcoming Ireland T20Is and it seems that they will be on the flight to Australia for the T20 World Cup. With the likes of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, and Akshar Patel also in the mix, things will surely be difficult for Jadeja to make a comeback in the T20I side.
Jadeja last played for India in T20Is against Sri Lanka earlier this year. He also had a poor campaign in IPL 15 before he was ruled out of the tournament due to injury.
Speaking to Firstpost, Sanjay Manjrekar intriguingly cited the recent forms of Karthik and Hardik as reasons for Akshar Patel getting the preference over Jadeja. However, he added that the latter will make sure with his performances that the sectors aren't relieved of their "headaches".
“Clearly, Dinesh Karthik has shown that he can be a number 6 or 7 as a pure batter. The impact that he is making is phenomenal and we saw that in T20Is against South Africa and also in the IPL. So, it’s not really going to be easy for Jadeja to come in and take his place and India might settle in with somebody like Akshar Patel.
“The side now has Hardik Pandya, Karthik batting down the order. Rishabh Pant is also there so it’s not going to be easy for him. But knowing the kind of player Jadeja is, he will be making sure that the headache doesn’t get less for the selectors,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
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Manjrekar feels that with the likes of Pandya, Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul all performing well for the team, Rishabh Pant will be under the heat to perform.
“Rishabh Pant has made number four his place (During the South Africa series). Although, I thought Hardik Pandya should have batted at that position after the way he performed in the IPL. Ishan Kishan at the top and number four will be totally different. We haven’t seen him at that position and that’s not an easy position to bat on.
“KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are openers and they aren’t really the options at number four or five. But the kind of performances that we have seen from all the guys, Rishabh Pant will feel the pressure of having to perform,” he said.
Manjrekar further said that India needs to be patient with Pant in the white-ball format as he’s an ‘enigmatic’. He expressed his happiness with the kind of strength the Indian team has.
“My thing is wait and watch with Rishabh Pant because he is different, enigmatic and he has shown it at Test level. He is a remarkable player. But in the white-ball cricket, he is someone who is still in the process of telling exactly what kind of a player he is.
“But, clearly the amount of players breathing down the necks of the senior players and the big names, it just very good for Indian cricket,” he said.
The Indian team led by Hardik Pandya will be playing two-match T20I series against Ireland, starting 26th June while the senior team will play a Test match against England on 1st July.
(Firstpost inputs)
