'Pitches won't be the kind he relishes' - Sanjay Manjrekar on picking Yuzvendra Chahal for T20 WC

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that the Australian pitches in the upcoming T20 World Cup would not be the kind that leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal would relish to bowl on, while he also believes that left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has to part of the India squad for the tournament. The T20 World Cup is set to begin on 16 October in Australia.

Manjrekar, while he feels that Chahal will be tested in Australia, he reckons that the bounce on these pitches might suit the left-arm spinner more. Another aspect that the former batter stressed on was to play a different team after every game in the World Cup, meaning that a few teams might have difficulties facing Yadav with his deceptive nature with the ball.

Kuldeep Yadav has got to be a part of the squad: Sanjay Manjrekar

“He will be tested on those pitches in Australia, the pitches won’t be the kind that Chahal relishes and that’s why I believe Kuldeep Yadav has got to be a part of the squad,” said Manjrekar on Sports 18. “There will be bounce for his kind of a bowler.”

“The other thing is in a World Cup, you play a different team every game, so there will come along teams who will not be so good against the kind of deception that a Kuldeep Yadav has,” said the 56-year-old. Both the wrist-spinners were left out of the squad in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup which was played in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as spinners Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy got a look in.

Manjrekar feels that Chahal would be the obvious option to go for if the pitches offer turn. He also added that although a flat bouncy wicket is not something the leggie would love to bowl on, he has other factors that can be influential. He opined that Chahals’s strength is his temperament, which he feels would be crucial in crunch games.

“If the pitch turns in Australia, then Chahal becomes your bowler, but as I said before, a flat bouncy pitch is not a pitch Chahal will love to bowl on, but he has got other factors to bring him in,” said the former India batter.