There is a lot of buzz around the India versus Pakistan clash in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, slated to be held in Pallekele on Saturday (September 2).
While India are coming into the Asia Cup after a successful all-format tour of West Indies, Pakistan are entering the continental event on the back of a 3-0 ODI series win over Afghanistan.
Ahead of the marquee clash, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that the fortunes of the Men in Blue in their match against Pakistan will largely depend on the performance of their top-order batters - Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli.
According to Manjrekar, if this trio provide the team with a solid start then India would get the better of arch-rivals.
"See, fortunately for India, number one, two, and three, when Virat bats at number three, they are three very good Test batters. And you might talk about 50 overs being a one-day match and white-ball cricket and all that, but the start of a 50 overs game is not like a T20 match. I think there are some serious Test cricket skills needed, and then Rohit Sharma got these five hundreds in the last World Cup. I remember him respecting the bowling in the first 10 overs. And these three guys – Gill, Rohit, and Virat – who have excellent credentials as defensive Test batters, that is the game they will have to bring. If they do not lose early wickets, then it is just their game," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar, who was also part of the discussion on Star Sports, also shed light on KL Rahul's adaptable nature and how the team management is trying out various batting combinations in their training camp in Bengaluru.
"KL Rahul is a very versatile player, especially when he is played as a batter. Sometimes he has opened the innings, sometimes he has batted at number 5. So, today we got to see a lot of things in this camp," Bangar stated.
"Today, we also saw different pairs of players batting together, like as we have seen in yesterday’s session - Subhman Gill and Rohit Sharma were batting in pairs. Today, KL and Rohit were batting together in pairs. Thus it means the team management might have this thought on their mind that whether KL Rahul can be utilized as an opening batsman. I do not think this is their first option, but obviously, they want to give their best chance for that, or they want to keep an option with them," he added.
Notably, KL Rahul will not feature in India’s first two Asia Cup 2023 fixtures due to the fresh niggle he has picked up at NCA. The team management doesn’t want to take any risk and wants to give him ample time to regain full fitness with the ODI World Cup around the corner.
(With ANI Inputs)
