Replacing Bumrah with Agarkar: Rishabh Pant overlooked as new middle-order headache emerges for Champions Trophy squad

India will have a final opportunity to prepare for the Champions Trophy as they face off against England in a three-match ODI series at home next month. The selectors will convene this weekend to finalize the squad for both the series against England and the prestigious tournament. However, former India cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Sanjay Bangar have introduced a new selection dilemma for the committee led by Ajit Agarkar ahead of the crucial meeting.

Speaking to Star Sports, the two experts picked their 15-member squad for the series against England at home, which will begin on February 6. While both picked an exact similar playing XI, with under-fire batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma forming the crux of the batting line-up, the sole difference in the squad pertained to the reserves list.

Both Manjrekar and Bangar, without any hesitation, picked KL Rahul as the first-choice wicketkeeper, with Sanju Samson as the back-up as they ignored Rishabh Pant, who has played just one ODI game since his return to competitive cricket in June 2023.

“Pant was away from cricket for a long time. He did make a good return in T20Is and Test, but he never had that good form in ODI cricket. KL Rahul should be your first-choice keeper,” said the former India batting coach.

Manjrekar added saying: “I have been a good believer in Samson. Yes he wasn't scoring runs initially and maybe he isn't a fit down the order. But if India want a big hitter for the last 10 overs...and yes I agree with Bangar on Pant.”

Who will be the middle-order batters?

Once again Bangar and Manjrekar agreed upon Shreyas Iyer and Rahul as the frontline middle-order batters, just like India had for the 2023 ODI World Cup.

“Iyer and KL Rahul are my no. 4 and 5. That is fixed for me. Iyer had a fantastic World Cup, and Rahul's wicketkeeping was top-notch. He also fits the bill as a No. 5 with his prowess against spin,” said Bangar.

Manjrekar, however, teased the possibility of having Sarfaraz Khan and Tilak Verma as options for middle-order, while ruling out any possibility of considering Suryakumar Yadav for the role. He eventually picked the Mumbai batter as a back-up.

“I want to give an out-of-the-box suggestion by naming Sarfaraz Khan. He is unstoppable. He has that ideal ODI batter. At No. 4, I will have Shreyas Iyer. I would rather want to move away from Suryakumar Yadav and want him for T20Is alone as a specialist. I wouldn't mind someone like Tilak Verma at No. 5,” he added.

The veteran India batter also questioned if Dhruv Jurel could be considered as a back-up wicketkeeper, as he reckoned the youngster had the ability to bat at No. 5 for India in ODIs.

“Can't we pick Dhruv Jurel? Because he has that Test game. In case of a top-order collapse, we need someone who can stabilise the innings at No. 5. Well, I'm just trying to create options, but Rahul will be the first-choice option.”

Sanjay Manjrekar's India XI for England ODI series: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.

Reserves: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan.

Sanjay Bangar's India XI for England ODI series: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.

Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Sanju Samson.

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