Manjrekar on Dhoni’s batting position: “I prefer him batting down the order”

Manjrekar on Dhoni’s batting position: Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed opinions at Dhoni’s batting order for the Asia Cup.

Former India batsman and current cricket expert Sanjay Manjrekar was recently vocal regarding former captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s batting position in the ongoing Asia Cup.

While Dhoni is best-suited to bat at No. 5 for India in ODIs (his batting position in today’s match as well), there have been various comments coming in from numerous cricket experts regarding the same.

Of late Dhoni has been in an indifferent form, which has given birth to all these opinions regarding the 37-year old cricketer. In an interview with Firstpost, Manjrekar said that he wants Dhoni to come down the order, especially during the slog overs.

“I prefer him coming down the order with few overs left. I have never been a supporter of him batting at number four. Dhoni is at his best when the fielding sides are saving boundaries and there are not too many fielders in the circle, so he can get going. And then, he feeds off the uncertainty in the opposition in the death overs. He is obviously not as consistent as before, but India’s expectations of Dhoni need to come down, and India must be looking for a batsman who can do the Dhoni kind of job consistently,” said Manjrekar regarding Dhoni’s batting number.

Dhoni’s value to the current Indian side is calculated much more than his contributions with the bat. Someone of his experience and wisdom is often seen giving advises to captain Virat Kohli and the bowlers. It is a facet of the game which no one else can replace in the team.

“He still has a lot to offer as a keeper, especially when you have two game-changing wrist-spinners. Also, I think Virat likes Dhoni as a guy who can supply a lot of intelligence on the field as well. His glovework has become more important for India now, and he was involved a lot in the success of Chahal and Yadav over the past year. As far as batting goes, India must alter their expectations from Dhoni,” Manjrekar was quoted.