Sanjay Manjrekar said that current Indian all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya are in the same league as the former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, as Waqar Younis suggested during the rain break of the India-Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Super Four clash on Sunday as well. Jadeja and Hardik have been key players in Team India’s white-ball squads over the years, and also during the ongoing Asia Cup 2023.
Waqar Younis told Star Sports: “Look at what Hardik and Jadeja bring to the table. They are well equipped with both bat and ball. Especially Hardik Pandya – the way he batted against Pakistan – I think he is a really destructive batter at No. 6. Any team would love to have someone like him. He is aggressive, and now as we saw in the previous match, he is very sensible and smart.”
In response, Sanjay Manjrekar added that Yuvraj Singh was on a different level and named him as “India’s best white-ball batter”.
READ MORE: Virat Kohli shares the importance of maintaining diet
“Yuvraj is arguably India’s best white-ball batter. He could win games and was in a different league. Hardik and Jadeja, with due respect, aren’t quite there. These tworare far better bowlers than Yuvraj Singh but because that one discipline was so discipled,” Manjrekar countered as well.
Younis then questioned how Hardik wasn’t in the same league as Yuvraj. Notably, Yuvraj Singh is one of the greatest white-ball players India have produced so far. He had played 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is over the course of his career and was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in India’s 2011 ODI World Cup campaign as well.
READ MORE: “Can be the future captain of India” – Kiran More on Ruturaj Gaikwad
“Not even Hardik Pandya? With the kind of batting that he has shown? I am not comparing them but the intention is there,” he averred.
“He has the potential but when I see him at this stage, it’s not a guarantee that he will come and bowl all 10 overs like one of the mainstream bowlers. I see him as more of a batting all-rounder and he batted really well in the last game,” Manjrekar said.”So yes, they have this combined skill to make the kind of contribution made but one discipline of Yuvraj Singh, like I said, was at a different level. In pitches that help Jadeja the bowler, his batting will come through but Hardik the batter doesn’t need a bad ball or loose ball to decide that this needs to go.”
