Sanjay Manjrekar shares his opinion to solve India’s no. 4 problem; faces Twitterati’s wrath

Sanjay Manjrekar and his commentary was a big discussion point on social media during the 2019 World Cup. The cricket fans weren’t impressed with him and time and again requested Star Sports and ICC to axe him from the panel. Moreover, the former Indian cricketer was at the receiving end of Ravindra Jadeja‘s wrath for calling him the ‘bits and pieces’ player. With Team India’s squad set to be announced for the West Indies tour, Manjrekar is once again at the middle of the events.

India are scheduled to tour the Caribbean shores for three T20Is, as many ODIs and two Tests starting from August 3. While there were reports earlier that some of the senior players will be rested, but with Virat Kohli attending the selection meeting, it seems that only a couple of bowlers will get a leeway now. The team has been haunted with an unsettled middle-order which also somewhat played a role in India’s semi-final exit from the World Cup.

Pointing out those flaws, Sanjay Manjrekar, on his official Twitter handle, opined that India needs a Virat Kohli-like player at number four and five. He felt that the batsmen at those crucial positions should be able to rotate the strike and also play risk-free shots when needed.

“India needs a no 4 & 5 who is from the Virat mould of batting. One who can score at a strike rate of 80/90 even when building an innings, taking zero risks by putting balls in the gaps & running the hard singles & twos,” Manjrekar tweeted.

India’s middle-order woes

Sanjay Manjrekar is absolutely spot on with his observation as the top order generally has given them a good start only for the middle-order to botch it up. In the World Cup as well, various players batted at the much-debated spot and no player was settled. While KL Rahul started the tournament at four, Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar also went on to bat later at that position.

Also, surprisingly, Dinesh Karthik batted at five in the semi-final out of nowhere when many expected for MS Dhoni to come out in crunch situation. But Manjrekar, despite giving an honest opinion time and a perfect analysis, was at the receiving end of the Twitterati. Twitter slammed him for his commentary once again and requested him to stop doing the said job.

Here’s Sanjay Manjrekar’s tweet:

India needs a no 4 & 5 who is from the Virat mould of batting. One who can score at a strike rate of 80/90 even when building an innings, taking zero risks by putting balls in the gaps & running the hard singles & twos.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) July 20, 2019

Here’s are some of the reactions:

Definitely not this pic.twitter.com/1WyXvfeImf

— Vicky Kumar (@ImVickyKumar) July 20, 2019

India doesn’t need your commentary anyway. Period.

— Bharat (@Bharat078) July 20, 2019

“putting balls in the gaps”?
Remember when @imjadeja did that to you?

— Syed Zaleel Butt ???? (@TopiDrama69) July 20, 2019

you mean, 2 bits and pieces players?

— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) July 20, 2019

And thank God you are not in the team think tank and you r not the team selector. Otherwise India would have become Sri Lanka of modern time.

— Harsh Raj (@harsh_rajs) July 20, 2019

lo batao, mujhe to abhi tak lag raha tha ki apne ko ek spinner chahiye tha middle order me. ????‍♂️

— ßαtsy ???? (@itsalokj_) July 20, 2019

Wow….how easy… why couldn’t you do it during your playing days?…we could have had a much better team if you had practiced what you are preaching now.

— S Shivakumar (@ShivaSriraman) July 20, 2019

Before that, India needs you to quit commentary.

— Chintan Shah (@ckshah7) July 20, 2019