'Hope having seniors work out well for India this time': Manjrekar

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar says he would have picked a much younger Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 since loading the side with seniors has not worked in the pastManjrekar said now India have no other choice but to pair Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli for the T20 World Cup 2024 opening slot when he would have preferred to add the flavour of young and talented Yashaswi JaiswalRohit and Kohli did not feature in much of the T20 assignments for India last year but returned to the fold as selectors showed faith in the seasoned campaignersIdeally I would not have gone that way I would have stuck with a slightly more younger kind of core set of players but the selectors have committed themselves to the icons Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Manjrekar said on Star Sports Press Room World Cup edition on FridayNow that they are in the squad its impossible to have Virat Kohli batting at No 3 because then you dont get the full rally of Virat Rohit Sharma has to open so now India in a way have forced themselves to have only one kind of combination two righthanders he saidManjrekar does not think Jaiswal would find place in the Indian XIUnfortunately Jaiswal will have to sit out I would have gone completely with a new lot and then he would have had a lot more flair and it would be something different he saidBut India have trusted the seniors a move that hasnt worked over the years lets hope it works this time Manjrekar addedThe former India batter also dismissed suggestions that Mohammed Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi would pose a threat to the Indian batters in the clash between the two archrivals on June 9Mohammed Amir played his last international T20 seven years back We have no idea what his form is like today Shaheen Afridi is not the same bowler that he was two years agoIndia have handled him really well if you remember the Asia Cup even in the 50overs World Cup we had a onesided match I do not see Pakistan as a major threat to India plus the names of Mohammed Amir and Shaheen Shah Afridi I do not think this is a problem for India he addedAlso ReadWill bowlers have the last laughIrfan Pathan meanwhile termed leftarm spinner Imad Wasim as a threatAs a leftarm spinner with the new ball he is not bad He is a smart bowls stumps to stumps and if the ball grips then he could be a threat he saidManjrekar backed Hardik Pandya to come good as a finisherMy vote will always go to Hardik Pandya I know he had a pretty quiet IPL but go back to the last T20 World Cup that India played the last match semis against England at AdelaideHardik Pandya got 60 off 30 balls at a strike rate of 190 after India had got 62 in their first 10 oversWhen it comes to T20 World Cup marquee events back those guys who actually excel on the big stage and for me it will always be Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant ahead of people like Shivam Dubey until we see him on the big stage he saidPathan said both Pandya and Dube will have different roles in the competitionHardik Pandya and Shivam Dube will play different roles Hardik will have a set role to finish the game and Shivam will play as a floater as a reinforcer against the spinners he saidManjrekar said India will also be cautious in the first round knowing what happened in the 50overs World Cup in the Caribbean wherein they had made a firstround exit in 2007India will feel the pressure of the first round because in 2007 in the West Indies funny things had happened I see India up and running very quickly But Im just going to watch this Indian team in the matches that matter semis and the finals he saidFor India World Cups are not anymore about getting into the final round Its about what you do in the final rounds he addedManjrekar also claimed that Kohli tends to bat with additional pressure in knockout games due to his stature which is not the case with RohitVirat does take it upon himself You see that happening in all the big games to bat a little longer perhaps feels obliged because of the kind of stature that he has in Indian cricket to bat longer rather than just come and bat freely he saidBut Rohit Sharma will do that no matter his stature We saw that in the ODI World Cup But Im worried about Virat really when it comes to semis and the finals he addedWith agency inputs