Axar Patel hailed for preventing India from repeating 2023 World Cup mistake: 'Brilliant decision...'

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar is a strong advocate for maintaining a left-right combination in the middle order. He has voiced his support for the strategy employed by Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, who have chosen to have Axar Patel bat at No.5 instead of KL Rahul. In recent ODIs, starting from the series against England, India have prioritized the right-left combination in the middle order, leading to KL Rahul being pushed down to No.6.

In the Champions Trophy fixture against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium, Axar Patel came at No.5. However, he failed to get going as he scored eight runs.

In the end, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill took India over the line with six wickets in hand and 21 balls to spare. Rahul remained unbeaten on 41.

Sanjay Manjrekar praised Axar Patel for giving the Indian middle-order much-needed solidarity. Ahead of the ICC Men's Champions Trophy match against Pakistan, he also said that KL Rahul needs to be ready to bat at any position, as playing in the middle-order comes with its own challenges.

"KL Rahul got some time in the last game, which is good, but I guess Axar comes in only to make sure there's a left-hand right-hand combination, and if there's a left-hand spinner bowling or a leg spinner who's major main delivery is the leg spinner then makes sense for a left-hander to come in and Axar Patel has been brilliant," said Sanjay Manjrekar, JioHotstar Expert, while replying to a Hindustan Times query during a select media interaction.

"Actually, one of the things that I was worried about was the batting lineup with all those right-handers. I thought India would have the same problem they had in the 2023 World Cup, where the first left-hander was Jadeja. But Axar Patel going up the order, it's a damn good sort of idea that they have got working. And KL Rahul, hopefully, when he gets more time in, but that will be his job. If you're batting at number five, in limited over cricket, or five or six, something that comes with that position," he added.

'Amazing that Rishabh Pant is on the bench'

Sanjay Manjrekar also said it is amazing to see a talent like Rishabh Pant warming the bench. KL Rahul has been playing ahead of Pant as the first-choice wicketkeeper.

It remains to be seen whether Pant gets a look in. However, it looks unlikely as KL Rahul played a crucial 41-run knock in India's Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai.

"It's amazing that somebody like Rishabh Pant is on the bench; it shows the kind of quality India has," said Sanjay Manjrekar.

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