Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Shardul Thakur or Mohammed Shami will replace Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s playing XI against Afghanistan in the World Cup 2023 if the game is played on a flat surface. India will take on Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11. South Africa scored 428 for 5 in the last encounter at the stadium, while Sri Lanka responded with 326.
Ashwin was named to India’s World Cup squad as a last-minute injury replacement for Axar Patel and returned with figures of 1 for 34 in 10 overs in India’s six-wicket triumph against Australia in their World Cup opener. Meanwhile, Manjrekar also added that Hardik Pandya feels the pressure if he is the third seamer.
“My view is that, unless there is a compelling reason, I don’t like Hardik Pandya as your third seamer. I think he also feels the pressure if he is the third seamer. What is likely to happen is that if the pitch is similar to the one that we had in that South Africa-Sri Lanka game, which was a belter, there was nothing there for the spinners, I don’t see Ashwin playing on that surface,” Sanjay Manjrekar said during a discussion on Star Sports.
“India will add more batting depth unless they feel that they will get in pace quality against Afghanistan on this flat pitch. But they have shown their cards very early coming into the World Cup. They are not very keen to go one batter short. Shardul Thakur or Mohammed Shami is the change that I see if that’s the exact same surface that we get in Delhi,” Manjrekar added.
