E-Paper
Sign in
T20 World Cup: India need wicket-taking spinners - Sanjay Manjrekar
India had picked two spinners for the Pakistan game - Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja - who conceded 61 runs between themselves in eight overs without picking a wicket.
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that India need a wicket-taking spin option in their lineup for their impending games in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup. India began their journey with a 10-wicket loss to arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on October 24 where none of the bowlers managed to pick a wicket as the pair of Mohammad Rizwan and captain Babar Azam stitched an unbeaten 152-run stand for the opening partnership.
India had picked two spinners for the Pakistan game - Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja - who conceded 61 runs between themselves in eight overs without picking a wicket.
India have two more spinners in the squad - the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin, who was picked as the primary off-spin option in place of injured Washington Sundar, and Rahul Chahar, who was picked ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal.
Manjrekar feels that India need spinners who can give them breakthroughs rather than containing the batters. "India need wicket-taking spinners. Any spinner who bowls to get wickets and not obsess over the economy is my guy," Manjrekar told ANI.
Speaking to the media ahead of the start of the Super 12 stage of the tournament, captain Virat Kohli had praised Ashwin for his ability to bowl the difficult overs and pick wickets.
“If you saw the IPL in the last couple of years, he's bowled difficult overs, he's bowled against the top players in the IPL, and not being shy to put the ball in the right areas. Spinners can get intimidated by the way power hitters hit the ball, but Ashwin believed in his skill set," Kohli had said.
“We felt like the way he was bowling and his variations now and his control over pace is something which is ... again a lot of experience, a guy who has played a lot of international cricket and he’s at his confident best. These guys can go in there and change the game with their spells,” Kohli added.
Speaking about Chahar, Kohli hailed his ability to attack the stumps and bowl with pace, which were the reasons behind his selection over Chahal.
"We believe going on in this tournament, the wickets are going to get slower and slower, so guys who bowl with pace will be able to trouble the batters as compared to those who give it air. Rahul definitely has those strengths naturally as a leg-spinner. He is someone who always attacks the wickets, that is the factor that tilted the thing in favour of him. Picking a World Cup is always tricky and you cannot always have everyone in that squad," Kohli had explained.
With the New Zealand tie on October 31 being a crucial game for India, the management might look to replace Varun with either Ashwin or Chahar.
