Asia Cup 2018: Reasons why Manish Pandey should be in India's starting XI
The Asia Cup started last week and it has been an entertaining tournament so far. In fact, the Asia Cup had some shocking results in the first week of the tournament. The five-time Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka were eliminated in the first round as they lost both their matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Hong Kong also surprised India and they had a nail-biting contest against the defending champions India. Subsequently, India came up with an awe-inspiring performance against the arch-rival Pakistan and crushed Pakistan by 8 wickets. India had a splendid match last night and defeated Bangladesh convincingly by 7 wickets.
India have looked competent so far and they have a bright chance to defend the title successfully. India's batting has been fantastic without Virat Kohli but the middle-order still has an instability. The openers have scored plenty of runs but the middle-order has not been fully tested yet. Rayadu was exceptional against Hong Kong and he scored a half-century. He remained not out against Pakistan but failed against Bangladesh. Moreover, his strike rate has been quite substandard in the Asia Cup.
Dinesh Karthik scored 33 against Hong Kong and remained not out against Pakistan. However, MS Dhoni came to bat at number four against Bangladesh and scored a handy knock. Dhoni is the most experienced batsman of the Indian team and he might guide Indian middle-order in the remaining matches of Asia Cup. Manish Pandey is a sterling middle-order batsman but he is yet to play a match in the Asia Cup. India can try him in the next game.
Here are the 2 reasons why Manish Pandey should feature in the starting XI:
#2 Excellent fielder
Fielding is an essential quality of a top-notch team and India's fielding has been up there with the best in the last couple of years. India have added the criteria to pass yo-yo test in the selection process and fitness is the prime reason for the test. Meanwhile, a good fielding side must maintain a stupendous fitness level.
Manish Pandey is an incredible fielder and he has the ability to save plenty of runs on the field. Ravindra Jadeja's inclusion has boosted the fielding of the Indian team and Manish Pandey can improve India's fielding performance marginally in the Asia Cup. Ambati Rayadu failed the yo-yo test a couple of months ago and he could not play the England series. He is not swift on the field and it can cost India important catches as well as runs.
But Manish has already shown his fielding skill in the ongoing Asia Cup. He came in as a substitute of the injured Hardik Pandya against Pakistan and he took a stunning catch to dismiss Pakistani skipper Sarfraz Ahmed.
#1 Current batting form
The Indian selectors picked Manish Pandey in the Asia Cup and his recent batting form was responsible for his selection. Though he has played 22 ODI matches for India, he has not been able to cement his place yet. He helped India A to win the Quadrangular series last month and he played some big knocks in the tournament.
Manish scored 306 runs in four games of the Quadrangular series and he remained not out in all four matches. As a matter of fact, he scored two half-centuries and a century in the tournament. Given his recent batting form, he definitely deserves a place in the starting eleven.
He has a remarkable batting technique and he is adept at playing big knocks. Manish Pandey has the ability to score runs quickly and his strike rate is 93 in the ODI Cricket.