The Men in Blue will face the Black Caps in three ODIs, with the first game to be played in Hyderabad on Wednesday, January 18. With Axar Patel unavailable for the series, Shahbaz and Washington are the two spin-bowling all-rounders in the 16-member Indian squad.
During an interaction on the Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, Manjrekar was asked to choose between Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar as the likely spin-bowling all-rounder in India’s XI, to which he responded:
The former Indian batter feels Washington will play despite the Bengal all-rounder’s terrific record in domestic cricket, elaborating:
Shahbaz has a batting average of 43.93 and 43.94 in first-class and List-A cricket respectively. He has picked up 77 wickets in 24 first-class games and accounted for 38 dismissals at an impressive economy rate of 4.59 in 36 List-A matches.
“My vote will be for Washington Sundar” - Sanjay Bangar
Sanjay Bangar also cast his vote in favor of Washington ahead of Shahbaz, reasoning:
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach feels the franchise’s player will have to wait on the sidelines for the time being, saying:
Washington has picked up 14 wickets at an excellent economy rate of 4.70 in 13 ODIs. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder has also amassed 212 runs at an impressive average of 35.33 in his seven innings.
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