‘Under Gambhir, it’s too many all-rounders’: Sanjay Manjrekar says India need a pure middle-order batter after IRE defeat originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
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Manjrekar feels that India have used too many all-rounders under head coach Gautam Gambhir.
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Manjrekar has asked for the inclusion of a “pure middle-order batter”.
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Sanjay Manjrekar questions India’s overreliance on all-rounders after Ireland T20I series
India’s 0-2 T20I series defeat against Ireland brought to fore the frailties in its middle order comprising various all-rounders.
The team comprised various all-rounders in different positions, like Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel, along with other players who provided occasional batting, but it lacked an anchoring middle-order batsman.
Although Sundar was dropped for the second T20I, he was replaced by another all-rounder in Suryansh Shedge who scored just one run in the one-run defeat.
Sanjay Manjrekar commented post-defeat: “It was too little earlier…under Gambhir, it’s too many. The ‘all rounders’. India need a PURE middle order batter, pronto!”
India’s batting problem has been clear in both games. In the second T20I game, chasing, it found itself at 19/3 early on and could not recover, even after the best efforts by Tilak Varma.
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MORE:‘Black day’: Fans react as India men, women suffer brutal defeats on same day
How Ireland stunned India to claim a historic 2-0 T20I series victory
Ireland produced the greatest upset in T20Is in recent times, whitewashing India 2-0 in a two-match series in Belfast and winning their first bilateral series against the reigning world champions.
In the opening match of the series, Ireland beat India by 34 runs. In this game, Ireland scored 182/9 and bowled India out for 148 after the top order failed miserably.
Jai Moondra Ireland left-arm pacer scalps Sanju Samson’s wicket
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Under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, India faced difficulty adjusting themselves to the wicket that favoured seamers and lost crucial wickets in both the games in the series. Although there were pockets of resistance from the Indian batting order, like from Tilak Varma, it could not change the course of the game for the Indians.
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The second T20I saw a similar pattern, where Ireland managed to clinch the game by a run and completed their first clean sweep in T20Is.
MORE:The day in cricket that had everything: Stokes retires, Ireland’s historic win, T20 WC heartbreak
Why It Matters
India’s twin losses to Ireland while chasing have become more than a mere bad series. There is talk again of India’s growing T20 identity under Gambhir and whether the multi-skill policy being adopted has been detrimental to specialist batters who can bat well under pressure.
It is clear from what Manjrekar said that he holds the old-school belief that although all-rounders add versatility, there is a need for specialists who can perform their roles under pressure.
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