Sanjay Manjrekar picks his top five Test bowlers, two Indians in the list

Sanjay Manjrekar has come out and given his opinion to reveal his choice for the top five Test bowlers at the moment. During a recent interaction, the former Indian cricketer was asked to pick the top five bowlers in the longest format and he chose only fast bowlers, much to the surprise of the panel with whom the discussion was going. 

The panel included former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell and former Indian opener Aakash Chopra. While both, Chopra and Chappell included Ravichandran Ashwin in their top five, Manjrekar shied away from picking the Tamil Nadu-born cricketer making a point that he has missed a lot of overseas Tests in the last few years. 

Manjrekar chose Pat Cummins, James Anderson, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Jos Hazlewood. He then further went on to explain the reason why he didn’t pick any spinner in his top five. 

Sanjay Manjrekar explains why he didn’t pick any spinners in his top five

“The reason why I don’t have a spinner is that they don’t play enough matches. When you are looking at the last two or three years, Ashwin has got all these wickets but he has missed nine overseas Tests,” Manjrekar noted during ESPN Cricinfo’s show Run Order. 

According to the former Indian batsman, he judged all the players on the basis of their overseas record and how they have played in conditions that are not suitable for them. He also noted that Ravindra Jadeja has missed 13 overseas Tests.

“The others have played enough home and away for us to make a reason and an assessment. Pat Cummins is right at the top because of his consistency, fitness. He has played right through without injuries. And of course, performances in all conditions,” Manjrekar concluded. 

The other panelists also agreed with Sanjay’s words for Cummins. Chopra and Chappell both had picked the Australian fast bowler in their top five. As a matter of fact, Cummins is the only bowler to have appeared in all three experts’ picks. The panel in the end judged the Aussie speedster as the no.1 Test bowler. Pat Cummins has taken 164 wickets in 34 Tests at an average of 21.6

Sanjay Manjrekar’s top five Test bowler: Pat Cummins, James Anderson, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Jos Hazlewood