Sanjay Manjrekar Suggests Changes To Make India's Middle-Order "More Wholesome"

India slumped to a 31-run loss in the opening ODI to South Africa in Paarl on Wednesday in a disappointing start to the three-match series. After a bright start, where India reduced the hosts to 68-3, the visiting side lost control as Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen hit tons to take South Africa to a total of 296/4. In response, India started well but a middle-order collapse saw them finish at 265/8 to lose by 31 runs. According to former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, "a few little tweaks" will need to be made to make India's middle-order "more wholesome". 

"I've maintained that India's middle-order looked a little short on batting when you have somebody like a Rishabh Pant batting at 5 and a Venkatesh Iyer in a very unfamiliar role. You know, for a newcomer to bat down at No. 6 on a pitch that's going to be dry and getting slow further. There wasn't much of a threat down the order so I thought they should have made a place for somebody like Suryakumar Yadav. (Ravichandran) Ashwin probably then could have come in at number 7. I guess a few little tweaks will have to be done to make sure that the middle looks a little more wholesome," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo after the game.

"Just far too many runs to chase, especially in a day game where the pitch wasn't going the get easier for the batters chasing and the ball wasn't going to get wet because of the dew. There was some hope at the start but somebody had to carry the bat through the innings," he added. 

"Shikhar Dhawan got out after being set, Virat Kohli as well. It was always going to be difficult. Generally there's a lot of hope for spinners in the second innings in a day game we saw that in the dismissals of Dhawan and Kohli. I think India lost the game when they allowed the opposition to go beyond 250," Manjrekar further said. 

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Sanjay Manjrekar Virat Kohli KL Rahul Suryakumar Yadav Ravichandran Ashwin Venkatesh Iyer South Africa vs India 2021/22 Cricket South Africa vs India, 2nd ODI