Sanjay Manjrekar names his India’s XI for Asia Cup encounter against Pakistan

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar picked his set of players who could feature in India’s first match against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023. Notably, the Men in Blue will square off against the Babar Azam-led side, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Kandy, Sri Lanka. With less than 10 days to go for the high-octane clash, cricketer-turned-commentator Manjrekar provided his playing XI that could make the cut against Pakistan.

The former cricketer picked three specialist pacers in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami whereas Hardik Pandya would be his fourth option. In addition to this, KL Rahul, who returns to the setup after sustaining an injury in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, also makes the cut in Manjrekar’s India XI. While for the opening pair, Manjrekar preferred skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill to start the proceedings for team India. 

“My three seamers would be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Hardik Pandya would be my fourth seamer. My spinners would be (Ravindra) Jadeja and Kuldeep (Yadav). My opener would be Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma. No. 3 batter would be Virat Kohli. KL Rahul would play because he is the keeper,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

Somewhere, India will have to fit in a left-hander in Tilak Varma: Sanjay Manjrekar

Speaking about his middle order, Manjrekar highlighted that either Shreyas Iyer or Tilak Varma could feature in the line-up for the high-octane fixture of the Asia Cup 2023. However, he further outlined that with the packed right-handers in the setup, the think tank may look to fit a southpaw in Tilak, so as to mix it up in the middle order. 

“Either Shreyas Iyer or Tilak Varma could play [in the middle-order]. I am saying this because in India’s first-choice side XI, the first seven (six) batters, including Hardik Pandya, are all right-handers. Somewhere, India will have to fit in a left-hander in Tilak Varma. This is a problem India has,” Manjrekar added.

It is worth noting that Tilak earned his maiden ODI call-up following his impressive outing in the IPL 2023 and in the T20I series against the West Indies. The young left-hander has played seven T20Is and accumulated 174 runs at an average of 34.80. Furthermore, his stellar IPL campaign included him scoring 343 runs in 11 appearances at a solid average of 42.88.

Sanjay Manjrekar’s India XI vs Pakistan: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer/ Tilak Varma, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj