Sanjay Manjrekar explains why India should go with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson ahead of West Indies clash

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar praised India’s decision to go with a right-left opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson against Zimbabwe in their Super 8 match in Chennai. He believes this small but important change worked strongly in India’s favour.

Earlier in the tournament, India had opened with two left-handers, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma. Manjrekar pointed out that if India had continued with that combination, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza could have brought himself on to bowl off-spin in the power-play.

Sanjay Manjrekar explained how the opening pair changed India's batting

Indian openers had already struggled against off-spinners in the first six overs, getting dismissed four times in the power-play in the tournament so far.

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“I thought India’s process was brilliant right at the start when they had a left-hand right-hand combination to open the inning. That was a very, very important change, and that helped India a great deal. I’ll tell you why. If there were two left-handers, Ishan and Abhishek at the top, Sikandar Raza would have brought himself on because it was bowling first, the pitch would have had something for him and his other offspin in the first six overs, and that would have been a little troublesome," Sanjay Manjrekar was quoted as saying in a video posted on his Instagram handle.

“Now, because there was a presence of Sanju Samson, he couldn’t do that, and that meant that the offspinners were introduced a little late, and when spinners were introduced, India’s run rate dropped for just a little bit but the left-hand right-hand combination at the top was a very important change for India and which worked beautifully," he added.

India's openers vs Zimbabwe

India's new opening pair helped the side to dominate the powerplay without losing a wicket. Abhishek scored 55 while Samson added 24, giving the team a strong start. The momentum continued as Ishan Kishan (38), Suryakumar Yadav (33), Hardik Pandya (50*) and Tilak Varma (44*) all chipped in. India went on to post 256/4, their highest total of this T20 World Cup and the second-highest in the tournament’s history.

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Manjrekar on Tilak Varma's batting demotion

Manjrekar also supported the decision to push Tilak Varma down the batting order. He felt that Tilak looks more comfortable and plays with less pressure when batting lower down rather than at number three. Batting at No. 6, Tilak played his best innings of the tournament, scoring 44 off just 16 balls, including three fours and four sixes.

“Tilak Varma down the order. Good move from India. I’ve seen this guy bat down the order. I just feel that he feels less pressure when he’s batting down the order as opposed to number three. So I think that is the slot for him in the bigger game that will come after this, which also means that Hardik Pandya got a chance to bat higher up in the batting order," he concluded.

India's upcoming T20 World Cup outing

With this dominant win over Zimbabwe, India have set up a crucial clash against West Indies at Eden Gardens. The winner of that match will secure the remaining semifinal spot from the group alongside South Africa. Zimbabwe, after suffering back-to-back heavy defeats to West Indies and India, are now out of the tournament.