Five possible replacements for KL Rahul in India's Champions Trophy campaign

3) MANISH PANDEY

Manish Pandey has been warming the bench and has got limited opportunities to play as a middle-order batsman or as a finisher in the Indian team. However, he is most effective when he bats up the order. He was a specialist opener until a few years ago. He also became the first Indian to score a century in the IPL when he opened the innings for RCB at the age of 19. He has been a batting mainstay for the KKR at the no. 3 spot for 3 years and has been playing at no. 4 this year.

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He has been in red hot form scoring 221 runs in 4 innings at a strike rate of 150 and average of 221. He also held the Orange Cap for a while. What has been admirable is the way Manish has paced his innings in all the matches in this IPL. Hence, the selectors might select the Karnataka batsman as an opener for the Champions Trophy. With Jadhav settled as the finisher of the team, Manish would be an ideal replacement for Rahul in the lineup.

Post Edited By: Utkarsh Bhatla

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