'Even the Champions Trophy doesn’t matter' - Sanjay Manjrekar's bold take on ODI cricket after India's loss to New Zealand

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes not a lot should be read into India's recent ODI series defeat against New Zealand. India were defeated by a 1-2 margin in the ODI leg of the ongoing white-ball series against the Kiwis.

He mentioned how only World Cups matter when it comes to the current ODI cricketing landscape. According to the renowned commentator, even winning the Champions Trophy does not hold a lot of importance in the larger scheme of things. 

"Honestly, in 50-over cricket today, what really matters are the World Cups and not even the Champions Trophy. Because if you try and remember the last three Champions Trophy winners, you'll struggle to remember those. But the 50-over World Cup, you'll remember each winner from the time the World Cup started. So, yes, if you want to have your setbacks and poor performances, get it out of the system now," shared Manjrekar on Instagram.

Manjrekar reckoned that bilateral cricket should only be treated as warm-up fixtures in the leadup to the main event. 

"You've qualified for the World Cup so these bilateral series are scheduled but they're mostly warm-up games and one shouldn't read too much into it. In fact, the importance of these bilateral series has become such that two weeks later, no cricket fan also remembers the result of what happened in that bilateral ODI series. It's all about the World Cups and form coming into the World Cup is really not a big indicator of who's going to win the World Cup," he added.

India lost the series against a fairly depleted Kiwis outfit with multiple experienced players missing. The Men in Blue will next take part in five T20Is, scheduled to commence on January 21. India will then co-host the T20 World Cup across February and March, and will enter the tournament as defending champions.