Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar believes achieving greatness while batting at the top of the order in the 50-over format is overstated ahead of the India-New Zealand ODI series.
He commented on why batting in the top three is much easier in ODIs, compared to the red-ball format, saying (via his Instagram handle): “A lot of people have asked me why I keep saying ODI cricket is easy for top-order batters. Go back a few years in Indian cricket and look at the guys who were opening for India for a long time in 50-over cricket. Those batters were middle-order batters in Test cricket. They were not very keen to open in Test cricket or bat in the top three. They were very happy to play at No. 4, 5, 6.”
“But come one day cricket, they were almost desperate to bat in the top three and open. Therein lies the answer as to why I believe it’s easy for top order batters, because everybody is queuing up to bat in the top three. The first advantage you get when you are opening in 50-overs cricket or batting at No. 3, there’s no four slips and a gully. And you know when a bowler is running in, he’s not really coming in to get you out. He’s just trying to make sure you don’t get 10-15 runs an over,” he shared again.
However, Sanjay Manjrekar made a special mention of former Indian batters, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, and Suresh Raina, praising them for achieving success batting in the middle order in ODIs as well.
“So if you are a good enough player, you just play out the first 10 to 15 overs. Then the field spreads out and slowly, if you are a good rotator of strike, you get to a 100. The tough place to bat in one-day cricket is where Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, or MS Dhoni would bat, which is 4, 5, 6. Those were the tough positions. So If you are looking for a batting great, you won’t find them in one-day cricket, and especially at number one, two, and three. One day cricket is the last place I would look at to see my batting great of today because there’s just far too much going for people who bat in the top three in one day cricket,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.
