The exclusion of Rishabh Panto from the Indian playing XI from the first game against England initially raised several eyebrows. The Indian team management has preferred KL Rahul as a team guard for a match.
However, former Indian cricket Sanja Manjrekar believes that Rahul is not the one who will prevent the pantle from playing XI for the 2025 champion trophy. Manjrekar thought that a panty would have a hard time playing XI due to Allrounder Axar Patel.
Axar made a vital contribution with a baton in the first game against England. Since India had a lot of right -wingers in the upper row, Axar was sent above KL Rahul on number 5 to deal with English legs Adil Rashid, and he hit a brilliant 52 of 47 balls.
Return of Rishabh Panto Delayed due to Axar Patela: Sanjay Manjrekar
As she spoke with ESPNCricinfo, Sanja Manjrekar spoke about the prospects of Rishabh Panto that she would enter the Indian player XI for the champion trophy. However, he felt that Axar’s excellent knock gave confidence to the selectors to play him by a hit command that would fill the role of left -back in the first six.
“Before the match started, there was a proposal from me that maybe Rishabh Pant could try only with regard to the champion trophy. In addition, India would have a left in the first six or seven,” Manjrekar said.
“Axar Patel is a great option because this is a guy, we saw him hitting the test matches for India and has a dough temperament. The boy, he looked good against Spinner (in the first OD),” he noticed.
Axar’s ability to play well in the middle turnarwoman increased the chances of being used as a float in the champion trophy. The left back has played several significant blows in a test crice on the subcontinent field.
Sanyay Manjrekar comes Axar Patel
Further speaking in the same video, Sanja Manjrekar admitted that India had problems while playing spin in the middle phase of abroad. He believes that Axar Patel is a good option in those backgrounds because it has the ability to deal with spinners as a left hand.
“India had a problem in the middle, where they struggled to find the impacts competent against Spin. Since this champion trophy will be played in our part of the world, there will be a lot of spin influence on the games,” the deficiency said.
“Axar Patel is a great option to have in the middle, which may have postponed Rishabh Pant’s chances to return. Now they have found a left back to hit the middle,” he concluded.
India prefers Kl Rahul in front of Rishabh Pant
Games in India Trophy for champions will be played in Dubai, which is likely to help Spinners more. The Rishabh Pant was expected to have the opportunity to enter the playing XI in front of Kl Rahul because it is the left back.
However, the Indian team administration decided to persevere with KL Rahul as a guard and found a way to play the left back in the form of Axar Patel in the middle order. While Axar hit number 5, Kl Rahul was demolished in no. 6.
India won the first OTO in Nagpur and in the series they are 1-0. The second match of the series with three matches will be played in Cuttack on February 9th.
