T20 World Cup 2021: "Any spinner who bowls to get wickets is my guy" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Team India's slow bowling conundrum

Former batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that Team India must go in with spinners who are looking to take wickets in the T20 World Cup 2021.

According to Manjrekar, a slow bowler who is not too obsessed with being economical should be Team India’s choice for the upcoming matches.

The Indians were handed a 10-wicket hammering by Pakistan in their opening encounter of the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai. Team India chose Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja as their two spinners for the big match against their arch-rivals.

Both Chakravarthy and Jadeja completed their quota of four overs but neither could take a wicket. While Chakravarthy had figures of 0/33, Jadeja ended with analysis of 0/28.

Team India will next face New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai, in what will be an extremely crucial encounter for both sides.

Speaking ahead of the game, Manjrekar told ANI while discussing Team India’s spin options:

"India needs wicket-taking spinners. Any spinner who bowls to get wickets and not obsess over the economy is my guy.”

Apart from Chakravarthy and Jadeja, Team India have experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and rookie leg-spinner Rahul Chahar as part of their T20 World Cup 2021 squad.

Speaking on Ashwin, who hasn’t played white-ball cricket for the country since 2017, Team India captain Virat Kohli had said ahead of the tournament:

"You have seen in the IPL over the last two years that he has bowled the difficult overs against the biggest hitters. He has not been shy to put the ball in the right areas. So, hence Ashwin has been rewarded for reviving his white-ball skills altogether.

"He was a regular feature for us back in the day but he fell off, finger spinners with accuracy have come back into the game. So we also need to evolve as a team."

Intriguingly, Ashwin, who was considered a Test match specialist before his surprise selection in Team India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad, was made to sit out all four Tests during the series in England.

Sanjay Manjrekar worried about Team India's bowling

Following Team India’s 10-wicket loss to arch-rivals Pakistan, Manjrekar admitted that he was worried about the team’s bowling because neither the pacers nor spinners looked like taking wickets.

In a column for the Hindustan Times, Manjrekar wrote:

"The big concern for me is India’s bowling… What was glaring about India’s defeat was how none of the bowlers looked like they would take wickets. The only way India had a chance of winning the game was by taking wickets regularly."

With Pakistan having won both their opening Super 12 encounters, it will be imperative for both India and New Zealand to win on Sunday to have a reasonable chance of progressing to the semi-finals.