'Their game to lose if they don't lose early wickets' - Sanjay Manjrekar highlights India's batting strength

Former India cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Sanjay Bangar delved into India's batting strategies and the versatility of its players. The experts highlighted the significance of India's top-order strength and the crucial role of not losing early wickets to secure successful outcomes.

Manjrekar emphasized the Test cricket skills needed at the beginning of a 50-over match and commended the defensive prowess of India's top three batters - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill. Manjrekar spoke on the strength of the top order of India and how important it is for them not to lose early wickets to see the match out.

"See, fortunately for India, number one, two, and three, when Virat bats at number three, they are three very good test batters. And you might talk about 50 overs being a one-day match and white-ball cricket and all that, but the start of a 50 overs game is not like a T20 match," Manjrekar told Star Sports. 

"I think there are some serious test cricket skills needed, and then Rohit Sharma got these five hundreds in the last World Cup. I remember him respecting the bowling in the first 10 overs. And these three guys – Gill, Rohit Sharma, and Virat – who have excellent credentials as defensive test batters, that is the game they'll have to bring. If they don't lose early wickets, then it's just their game,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bangar shed light on KL Rahul's adaptable nature and how the team management is exploring various batting combinations in their training camp in Bengaluru. He emphasises the versatility that KL Rahul brings to the side and how the team management is trying out different permutations and combinations in the batting line-up at the training camp in Bengaluru.

"KL Rahul is a very versatile player, especially when he is played as a batter. Sometimes he has opened the innings, sometimes he has batted at number 5. So, today we got to see a lot of things in this camp. Today, we also saw different pairs of players batting together, like as we have seen in yesterday’s session - Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma were batting in pairs.

"Today, KL and Rohit were batting together in pairs. Thus, it means the team management might have this thought on their mind that whether KL Rahul can be utilized as an opening batsman. I don't think this is their first option, but obviously, they want to give their best chance for that, or they want to keep an option with them," he concluded.

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