Sanjay Manjrekar has come down hard on R Ashwin once again. The former India batter has often been critical of Ashwin's performances in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia), and following India's dismal tour of South Africa, he shared his thoughts on the senior off-spinner's output.
Ashwin returned into the 50-over side after a whopping five years against the Proteas but failed to make any impact in the first two games of the series at Paarl. In the first match, he registered figures of 1/53 and scored 7 runs with the bat. In the next match, he returned wicketless and gave away 68 runs in his spell. With the bat, he scored an unbeaten 25. Skipper KL Rahul then dropped him for the final game as he made four changes with hopes of avoiding a whitewash.
Manjrekar, while speaking to ESPNCricinfo following India's four-run loss in the final ODI, stated that Ashwin's place hurt the team.
Ashwin strangely came back into India’s ODI plans for some reason. India paid a price for that. He played the two crucial games, did nothing much. (Yuzvendra) Chahal also under the scanner. Prasidh Krishna needs to be backed a bit more. Also, in 50-overs, Mohammed Shami can be a good option.
Bowling wise, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had given signs even before this series that he is finding it difficult to get back to his best. I guess that issue is closed after seeing his performance in the series. And Deepak Chahar, the one ball to get Janneman Malan, should tell selectors that he is a better option, he elaborated
And finally, talking about the series loss and the tour of South Africa in general, Manjrekar termed it as "a bad loss".
The way the match ended sums up the whole trip for India. It has to be one of the poorest Indian tours to South Africa. That’s how it was destined to be. It just wasn’t India’s time in South Africa. It is a bad loss, he concluded.
Manjrekar feels that there is something special about this player when he opens the innings, adding that India can opt to rest veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan for the series opener.
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has a unique suggestion pertaining to the playing XI for stand-in skipper KL Rahul for the ODI series opener against South Africa on January 19 in Paarl.
Manjrekar, in conversation with ESPN Cricinfo, has backed all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer to open the innings alongside the skipper in a bid to put pressure on the opposition. Manjrekar feels that there is something special about Iyer when he opens the innings, adding that India can opt to rest veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan for the series opener.
My main obsession was fitting in the sixth-bowling option, and that's where Venkatesh Iyer comes into my plan. And if he is in the team you might as well open with him because there is something special about him when he opens the innings. Just to put pressure on the opposition. You can rest Shikhar Dhawan for maybe this match. So Iyer and Rahul open, he said.
This will be the first time India and South Africa will face each other in an ODI series since that 2018 tour where the visiting Indian side had scripted a memorable 5-1 series win in the six-match contest.
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