"What if he gets out on 20?"- Sanjay Manjrekar questions Ishan Kishan's slow approach in the powerplay amid T20Is vs SA
Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out Ishan Kishan's slow start in the powerplay in the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. The young southpaw has been sensational so far, scoring 164 runs in three games with two half-centuries and a highest score of 76.
However, most of his acceleration came after the powerplay. Sanjay Manjrekar feels that if the 23-year-old gets dismissed in the powerplay itself, the number of precious balls that he faces will be wasted if he doesn't score quickly.
Speaking in a video posted on his Twitter account, Sanjay Manjrekar advised Ishan Kishan to make the field restrictions count and take the attack to the opposition from the get-go. He said:
"Ishan Kishan going for a run a ball for his first 20 runs in two games is a risky modus operandi. What if he gets out on 20? Because then your team is hurting as the 20 balls are gone and you've got negligible returns on them. This is a cruel format and such seemingly insignificant events have a huge bearing on the eventual result. So here's my advice to Ishan Kishan, if you can score quicker in the first 20 balls, go for it. 10 wickets are a lot in T20s."
Sanjay Manjrekar on pitches for the remaining T20Is
Sanjay Manjrekar firmly believes that the slow pitch in Visakhapatnam played a role in India's win over South Africa. He reckons it would be difficult to stop the South African batting if the remaining games are played on absolute belters. He stated:
"Hopefully the pitches in Rajkot and Bangalore would be the same is what Pant would be hoping dearly and then got to say that India have a great chance of winning the series. If the pitches are belters, then South Africa is going to be a team hard to beat because of their better power game."
India will be hopeful of levelling the series when they take on the Proteas tonight in the fourth T20I at Rajkot.