T20 World Cup 2021: "India clearly has better bowlers than Mohammed Shami in T20 cricket" - Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar wants India to re-assess their T20 system and weed out players who might be better suited to other formats. The former cricketer cited the example of Mohammed Shami, saying that while the pacer is an asset in Test cricket, there are "clearly better players" than him in the shortest format.
Sanjay Manjrekar's comments came in a video preview of today's India versus Scotland match for Dafa News. Mohammed Shami has played three games in the ongoing T20 World Cup. He struggled in the first two games, but picked up three wickets at an economy rate of 9.74 against Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Sanjay Manjrekar said in this regard:
"I think the time has come now for India to look at their T20 team and look at certain players and maybe assess whether these guys are better suited to playing some other format... Maybe there are some players in this T20 team who will add greater value or the best value that they can possibly add in one format and not be as good in the others... I am thinking about Mohammed Shami. I think we have seen enough of Mohammed Shami to know that his greatest quality and where he's a superb asset for the team is Test match cricket. The last time I looked, his economy in T20 cricket was 9. I know he bowled well against Afghanistan but India clearly has bowlers who are slightly better than Mohammed Shami in T20 cricket."
Sanjay Manjrekar added that selectors should disregard a player's reputation in Tests and ODIs while picking a T20 team, adding that India are making the same "mistake" with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as well. He added:
"One must learn, as selectors especially, to disregard the reputation a man has earned in another format while assessing his place in a side for one format. India makes that mistake with Ravichandran Ashwin and to an extent Mohammed Shami."
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Overall, Shami has played 15 T20Is for India, picking up 15 wickets at an average of 34.27 and an economy rate of 9.79. Ashwin, on the other hand, made a comeback to T20I cricket after four years against Afghanistan. He bowled the best spell of the match, picking up two wickets for just 14 runs.
"Virat Kohli is accepting that he is not really the power player he used to be" - Sanjay Manjrekar
23,159 intl. runs & going strong 💪
Most Test wins as Indian captain 👍
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Wishing @imVkohli - #TeamIndia captain & one of the best modern-day batsmen - a very happy birthday. 🎂👏
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Sanjay Manjrekar added that going forward, India might look to add Virat Kohli to the same bracket as Shami and Ashwin as well. He said the Indian skipper's self-demotion in the batting order in the last two matches showed an acknowledgment of his waning powers in T20 cricket.
See who is the highest run scorer in T20 World Cup 2021 here.
Sanjay Manjrekar concluded by saying:
"Going forward who knows, they might start looking at Virat Kohli as well - whether he's adding the kind of value they need in T20 cricket. Virat Kohli demoting himself further and further and sending others ahead is also he himself accepting the fact that he is not really the power player he used to be a few years back."
The India-Scotland match will begin at 7:30 PM IST in Dubai.