Former Indian batter turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar feels Team India speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar should get more chances in the T20I series against South Africa. Notably, Bhuvneshwar is among five pacers in the 18-member Indian squad which will take on the five T20Is against the Proteas. Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh are the others as well.

However, during an interaction on Sports 18, Manjrekar said: “There are lots of candidates. Bhuvneshwar was very good, he has showed that he is a pretty reliable death bowler, India needs somebody in the death. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to play, if you have got him in the squad, might as well play him but there are other exciting options as well. Avesh Khan is another good candidate, there is Harshal Patel, there is Arshdeep Singh. So there is going to be a real clamor for those spots. India will go for three genuine seam bowlers with Hardik Pandya as their fourth option. It’s like pick anyone and they are still going to be quality.”

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While talking about the young talent Umran Malik, Sanjay Manjrekar said that the Jammu speedster might not get the chance if Team India plays with both Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the playing XI as well.

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“He is there in the squad, he might play a couple of matches but bilateral matches who cares, it is about the big marquee event, the ICC events. So that’s where they (selectors) will be wondering if it is a bit too early to rush him into that kind of a stage but no harm in looking at him. The best thing about Umran Malik is that he gets you wickets in the middle, very few fast bowlers can do that. If India has a combination of spinners who are not wicket-taking in the middle, that’s where Umran comes in,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.