NEW DELHI: Former India batsman
Sanjay Manjrekar is mighty impressed with the way
Indian cricket team has performed on their tour of South Africa so far. After losing the first two Tests of the three-match series, India signed off on an emphatic note with a win in the final game and then bossed over the hosts in the six-match ODI series with a 5-1 scoreline in their favour.
ALSO READ: India wrap up series 5-1 as Kohli slams 35th tonIn his column for Times of India, Manjrekar, who played 37 Tests and 74 ODIs for India, praised the team's fighting spirit on a dangerous pitch during the third Test in Johannesburg which they won by 63 runs.
"There is a lot of optimism around Indian cricket at the moment," Manjrekar wrote. "That fighting spirit shown in the last Test on a dangerous pitch despite having lost the series got a lot of admiration for Virat (Kohli) and his boys from the fans. Their dominance in the One-day series that followed does not surprise me. India are a very good 50-overs side and unlike in Tests, in all conditions."
The young wrist-spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav was the key factor that helped India boss over South Africa in the ODI series that concluded on Friday with India registering an eight-wicket win. Together, they took 33 wickets across the six ODIs with the hosts batsmen finding them a difficult nut to crack with India sealing a historic first ever bilateral ODI series win. "The two young wrist spinners have made such an incredible difference that this Indian side is virtually unrecognisable from the one that played last year. Now there are as many bowling heroes as there are batting ones, a rare scenario indeed in Indian cricket," Manjrekar wrote.
The Indian batsmen and bowlers have fired in unison but there seems to be one loophole – the middle order which has come under criticism for the way it has contributed during the ODI series. Even team coach
Ravi Shastri has pointed that out saying the team will weigh all options as they settle on a core group ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019 in England.
Manjrekar touched upon the middle-order muddle advocating a search for batsmen who can play a modern 360-degree game, especially in T20s. "In Rohit (Sharma), Shikhar (Dhawan) and Virat, India have a pretty good top three. In (Hardik) Pandya, they have a good floater and big hitter. Search should be on though for at least two middle-order batsmen who can play the modern 360 degree game. Somehow, India are still a bit traditional when they bat in T20s," the 52-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator suggested.
"To set and chase down massive targets, India need a bit of audacity in the batting. And yes, may be a couple of seam bowlers too as back up to Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah. I like the look of Jaydev Unadkat."
India's next assignment after the conclusion of South Africa tour ending on February 24, will be a triangular T20I series in Sri Lanka which also features Bangladesh, next month. Manjrekar feels the tournament will provide India a chance to find a solution to their middle order worries apart from plugging other "few holes".
"This team is showing potential to come out with more merit than earlier teams in this ongoing long overseas phase of international cricket. In between these major foreign tours, they will have some respite though in the form of cricket in Asia like the Nidahas trophy in Sri Lanka to mark 70 years of Sri Lankan independence. This will be a T20 triangular featuring the hosts, Bangladesh and of course India. I see this tournament as a great chance for India to plug a few holes that don’t seem very obvious when you are winning but are there nevertheless. With these holes filled India should be watertight as a team, and be formidable in all formats which is every nation’s dream," he wrote.